THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 

Archibald  Henderson 


CB 
B72UhaU 


/        4 


e/c 


'^4. 


^-^    '1.4 1  '>      '       /'    V 


AMERICAN 


HISTOEICAL    TALES 


FOE 


YOUTH 


NEW-YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  200  BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

GEORGE  S.  APPLETON,  164  CHESNUT-ST. 


PREFACE  TO  PARENTS. 


In  presenting  to  his  young  Countrymen,  the 
first  of  a  series  of  books  with  the  foregoing  title, 
the  Editor  begs  leave  to  state,  briefly  and  sim- 
ply, the  plan  of  the  series,  and  the  reason  which 
has  prompted  him  to  the  undertaking.  Indeed, 
he  can  hardly  expect  the  patronage  and  support 
of  those  who  sustain  the  interesting  and  respon- 
sible relationship  of  parents,  without  such  a 
statement. 

The  design  is  to  present  to  his  young  fellow- 
citizens  books  of  a  higher  value  than  those  usu- 
ally afforded  them.  Instead  of  tales  and  stories, 
written  for  the  young,  the  series  will  embrace 
volumes  of  Biography,  History,  Travels,  &c. 
As  it  is  designed  especially  for  American  youth, 
the  subjects  will  not  unfrequently  be  American. 
The  intelligent  man  or  child,  however,  will  be 
glad  to  gather  profitable  and  interesting  lessons 
1* 


6  PREFACE  TO  PARENTS. 

"R'herever  he  may  find  them,  and  subjects  afford- 
ing such  lessons,  will  not  be  excluded  from  the 
series,  from  whatever  quarter  they  may  be  de- 
rived. 

It  has  grown  into  the  familiarity  of  an  adage, 
that  "  early  impressions  are  the  strongest,"  and 
this  is  the  principal  reason  which  has  prompted 
the  enterprise.  It  is  known  to  parents,  and  per- 
haps to  children  themselves,  that  the  young  in  this 
day  enjoy  peculiar  advantages.  The  time  was, 
when  books  written  for  children,  were  far  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  a  child ;  now  they  are  writ- 
ten plainly  and  simply,  so  that  an  intelligent  boy 
or  girl  may  readily  appreciate  and  understand 
them.  This  alone  has  begotten,  perhaps,  m  chil- 
dren of  the  present  day,  a  greater  fondness  for  read- 
ing. Of  the  style  of  these  books  the  Editor  does 
not  complain,  but  he  thinks  that  the  subjects  are 
not  unfrequently  bad.  Tales  and  romances  are 
written  for  the  young,  giving  them  frequently  dis- 
torted pictures  of  human  life,  and  calling  forth 
in  them  an  early  taste  for  trifling  and  unprofit- 
able reading.  He  would  not  here  be  under- 
stood as  finding  fault  with  those  beautiful  stories, 
sometimes  inculcating  the  most  beautiful  lessons 
of  morality  and  religion ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
would  express  his  thanks  to  the  men  of  genius 


PREFACE  TO  PARENTS.  7 

who  have  prepared  them.  Books  of  such  value, 
however,  in  this  class  are  exceedingly  rare. 

In  presenting  to  the  young  volumes  of  Biogra- 
phy, upon  well-selected  subjects,  he  hopes  he 
is  giving  to  his  young  Countrymen,  the  best 
practical  examples  for  calling  them  up  to  a  lofty 
energy.  History  is  itself  "  stranger  than  fiction," 
and  opens  a  wide  and  unlimited  field  of  ever  vary- 
ing incident ;  and  through  books  of  Travels  they 
learn  to  sit  at  home  like  the  sweet  poet  Cowper, 
(as  most  of  them,  perhaps,  will  be  forced  to  do,) 
and  see  various  pictures  of  the  world.  The 
men,  manners,  and  things  of  real  life  thus  be- 
come familiar  to  them.  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
and  humbly  expected,  that  a  taste  for  such  read- 
ing, early  acquired,  will  serve  to  make  them,  in 
after  life,  more  profitable  and  interesting  mem- 
bers of  society. 

His  young  Countrymen  having  been  pleased 
to  receive  his  former  trifles,  written  for  their 
benefit,  with  approbation  and  kindness,  he  feels 
that  he  can  make  them  no  more  grateful  return 
than  by  an  honest  endeavor  to  do  them  a  higher 
service.  He  will  have  his  reward,  if  they  are 
pleased  and  instructed. 

In  conclusion,  the  Editor  feels  that  he  will 
have  failed  in  the  statement  most  essential  for 


8  PREFACE  TO  PARENTS. 

securing  confidence  in  a  teacher  for  the  youno^, 
if  he  did  not  declare  himself  to  be  an  humble 
member  of  the  Church  Militant,  living  upon  the 
hope  of  being  one  day  a  member  of  the  Church 
Triumphant.  He  considers  that  all  education, 
to  be  good,  must  be  based  upon  Christian  prin- 
ciple: the  heart  must  be  cultivated  as  well  as 
the  understanding;  and  whatever  is  placed  in 
this  series,  will  be  found  to  be  on  the  side  of 
Christianity. 


ADVENTURES  OF  HENRY  HUDSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Pleasure  and  Profit  of  reading  Biograpny-^ 
The  Birth-place  of  Henry  Hudson — Circum,' 
stances  which  brought  him  forward — His  Pre- 
paration  for  embarking  to  find  a  Passage  to 
the  East  Indies  by  the  JVorth  Pole^  in  1607 — 
Sails  on  the  voyage^  and  after  many  trials, 
returns  at  the  end  of  four  months  and  a  half 
havingbeen  farther  J^orth  than  any  other  navi- 
gator, and  having  opened  the  Whale  Fishery  to 
his  Countrymen. 

It  has  been  my  lot  to  spend  some  years  of  my 
life  in  the  large  and  flourishing  city  of  New  York. 
I  have  walked  its  crowded  streets,  looked  upon 
its  beautiful  churches,  (these  are  the  first  build- 
ings that  I  notice  in  every  city,)  its  fine  public 
buildings,  and  its  elegant  private  residences.  I 
have  in  my  possession  an  old  picture  shewing 
the  appearance  of  Manhattan  Island,  upon  which 
2 


14  HENRY   HUDSON. 

the  city  stands,  in  the  year  1635 — twenty-six 
years  after  its  discovery  by  Henry  Hudson.  It 
is  not  a  great  while  since,  that  I  was  showing 
this  picture  to  one  of  my  httle  friends,  and  call- 
ing his  attention  to  the  wonderful  change  that 
had  passed  over  the  island  since  the  day  when 
Henry  Hudson  first  rested  his  eyes  upon  it.  It 
was  then  a  poor  island,  inhabited  by  savages,  if 
inhabited  at  all,  with  Indian  canoes  floating  in 
the  waters  around  it.  Now  it  is  the  largest  city 
in  our  land,  and  ships  from  all  quarters  of  the 
world  rest  upon  its  waters,  almost  encircling  it 
with  a  forest  of  masts.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
look  of  surprise  and  honest  inquiry,  in  the  simple- 
hearted  little  boy,  as  he  turned  to  me  with  the 
question,  "  And  w^ho,  sir,  w"as  Henry  Hudson  ?" 
He  was  young,  and  his  ignorance  was  pardona- 
ble ;  the  more  so  because  he  confessed  it,  and 
at  once  asked  for  information.  I  have  thought 
that  many  older  than  himself  were  perhaps,  as 
ignorant  as  he  was,  and  therefore  have  prepared 
for  my  young  countrymen  the  story  of  the  hfe 
and  adventures  of  Henry  Hudson. 

Before  I  begin  I  must  make  two  remarks  to 
my  young  friends.  First,  I  know  few  things 
more  profitable  than  the  study  of  the  lives  of  our 
fellow-men.    K  they  were  men  eminent  for  good 


HENRY  HUDSON.  15 

qualities,  and  men  devoting  themselves  to  the 
improvement  of  mankind,  we  feel  an  ambition 
kindled  in  our  own  bosoms  to  imitate  such  men 
— "  to  go  and  do  Hkewise" — they  are  glorious 
examples  for  us  to  follow.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
they  have  been  remarkably  bad  men,  by  marking 
their  follies  and  their  sins,  we  may  perhaps,  learn 
to  despise  their  wickedness  and  shun  their  ex- 
amples. And  if  the  individuals  have  been  men 
who  have  lived  among  ourselves,  or  trod  the 
same  ground  upon  which  we  ourselves  are  walk- 
ing, the  example  becomes  tenfold  more  forcible. 
Then,  too,  I  know  few  things  more  pleasant 
Some  readers,  in  their  desire  for  pleasure,  are 
eager  to  seize  each  new  novel  or  tale  of  fiction 
as  it  falls  from  the  press — while  the  stories  of 
real  life  are  crowded  with  scenes  of  the  wildest 
romance  and  most  daring  adventure.  So  beau- 
tiful indeed  are  these  stories,  that  many  writers 
of  fiction  seize  upon  them,  and  make  them  the 
basis  of  their  own  tales  of  romance.  They  are 
like  painters  who  are  not  original  in  their  pic- 
tures :  they  are  only  coloring  up  and  varnishing 
old  pictures,  and  not  unfrequently  they  spoil  the 
paintings,  leaving  them  only  miserable  daubs  for 
the  people  to  look  at.  For  my  own  part,  I  like 
the  stories  of  real  life  in  themselves,  without  any 


16  HENRY   HUDSON. 

of  their  aid.  They  are  in  themselves  full  of  ad- 
venture ;  they  are  certainly  more  natural,  and 
above  all,  they  are  true.  I  hope,  therefore,  that 
we  shall  find  the  study  of  biography  both  profita- 
ble and  pleasant,  and  most  of  all  perhaps,  th« 
study  of  American  Biography. 

It  is  said  that  in  old  times  many  cities  had  a 
contest,  each  claiming  to  be  the  birth-place  of 
the  great  poet  Homer.  Some  ignorant  persons 
have  supposed,  that  there  was  a  dispute  between 
two  nations,  as  to  the  birth-place  of  Henry  Hud* 
son.  The  Dutch  speak  of  him  and  write  of  him 
as  Hendrick  Hutson,  and  this,  I  suppose,  is  the 
foundation  of  their  mistake.  The  truth  is,  that 
all  Dutch  historians  whose  opinions  are  valuable, 
and  who  speak  of  him  at  any  time,  know  that 
he  was  no  countryman  of  theirs,  and  call  him 
Hendrick  Hutson,  the  bold  English  navigator. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  'know  something  of 
Henry  Hudson  when  he  was  a  boy,  that  we 
might  trace  his  career,  step  by  step,  till  we  find 
him  standing  a  great  man  before  us.  It  is  said 
that, 

«  The  Child  is  father  of  the  Man," 

and  if  so,  we  might  hope  to  find  him  in  his 
school-boy  days,  a  bold  and  fearless  little  fellow; 


HENRY   HUDSON.  17 

but  of  his  parentage,  connexions,  or  education, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  ver^  little  is  known.  He  was 
born  in  England,  and  had  his  home  in  the  city 
of  London.  His  most  cherished  and  intimate 
companion  was  Captain  John  Smith,  the  founder 
of  the  colony  of  Virginia.  They  were  much 
alike  in  temper  and  disposition,  and  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  there  was  a  strong  friendship  be- 
tween them.  Henry  Hudson  was  also  a  married 
man,  but  we  do  not  know  who  the  woman  was 
who  shared  his  joys  and  his  sorrows.  He  had 
one  son,  for  the  boy  was  with  his  father  in  all 
his  voyages,  of  which  we  know  anything,  and 
they  at  last  perished  together. 

The  fact  that  so  little  is  known  of  the  early 
days  of  Hudson,  has  always  induced  me  to  sup- 
pose that  he  was  what  the  world  calls  a  self- 
made  man.  The  times  in  which  he  lived  were 
filled  with  the  daring  adventures  of  hardy  navi- 
gators, the  ocean  was  the  pathway  to  distinc- 
tion, and  his  young  heart  was  probably  fired 
with  these  stories,  and  his  genius  possibly,  thus 
thrown  in  that  direction.  I  have  fancied  him 
born  to  poverty — an  obscure  and  humble  boy, 
struggling  against  a  hard  fortune,  battling  diffi- 
culty after  difficulty  with  undying  perseverance, 
until  at  last  he  forces  his  way  before  the  world, 
2* 


18  HENRY    HUDSON. 

the  makei  of  his  own  fortunes.  I  love  these 
self-elevated  men.  It  seems  as  though  they  were 
nature's  noblemen :  the  men  whom  God  design- 
ed should  be  great  and  useful  to  their  species,  in 
spite  of  all  the  difficulties,  which  the  world  pre- 
sented before  them.  And  I  never  think  of  one 
of  them  without  remembering  the  multitudes  of 
my  young  countrymen  who  are  humbly  born, 
and  lowly  bred.  Such  men  are  glorious  exam- 
ples for  them,  telling  them  not  to  be  frightened 
by  difficulties,  or  turned  aside  by  disappointments, 
but  to  press  right  onward  in  the  way  of  useful- 
ness, and  honorable  fame. 

Before  Hudson  comes  fully  before  us,  it  is  w^ell 
that  you  should  understand  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  brought  him  forward.  After  the 
nations  of  Europe  discovered  that  there  were 
rich  treasures  in  that  region  of  country,  now 
known  as  the  East  Indies,  the  commerce  of  that 
region  was  brought  to  them  partly  over  land, 
and  then  floated  through  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
This  was  a  slow  and  laborious  route  for  trade ; 
and  in  a  httle  time,  those  nations  farthest  remov- 
ed from  the  advantages  of  that  trade,  (such  as 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  England,)  became  restless, 
and  desirous  of  finding  a  new  and  shorter  pas- 
sage to  the  East  Indies.     After  many  hard  and 


HENRY    HUDSON.  19 

unsuccessful  efforts,  at  length,  in  1499,  Vasco  de 
Garna,  a  celebrated  Portuguese  navigator,  doub- 
led the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  passing  on,  ap- 
peared upon  the  coast  of  Hindostan.  Thus  a 
new  track  was  found,  but  still  it  was  looked 
upon  as  belonging  particularly  to  the  Portu- 
guese, and  moreover,  it  was  still  a  long  and 
dangerous  passage.  The  nations  of  Europe  were 
not  yet  satisfied.  Still  thirsting  for  a  shorter 
highway  to  the  wealth  of  the  East,  they  began 
to  think  that  they  might  find  it  by  sailing  through 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  passing  north-westwardly 
arounf^  .he  coasts  of  North  America,  or  north- 
eastwardly around  the  shores  of  Asia,  or  possibly 
by  moving  in  a  course  directly  north.  You 
would  be  wearied,  if  I  should  tell  you  of  the  many 
long  and  perilous  voyages  undertaken,  to  find 
this  northern  passage.  Time  and  time  again, 
voyager  after  voyager  departed,  and  all  returned 
unsuccessful. 

The  best  of  all  books  tells  us  that  "  the  love 
of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  And  yet  this 
very  desire  after  the  riches  of  the  East,  was  over- 
ruled by  a  wise  Providence  for  good  purposes. 
No  northern  passage  was  found,  and  yet  these 
northern  voyages  have  aided  the  cause  of  sci- 
ence, have  discovered  new  fields  of  commerce  to 


20  HENRIJ    HUDSON. 

Arctic  fishermen,  opened  to  the  adventurous  nii- 
tions  of  the  old  world  new  and  fertile  regions, 
and  trained  up  for  them,  a  noble,  bold,  and  har- 
dy race  of  men.  I  say  a  hardy  race  of  men : 
for  nowhere  is  there  a  more  fearful  meeting 
with  the  elements  of  heaven  (those  elements 
which  man  can  never  control)  than  in  the  Arctic 
Seas.  Wind  and  storm,  and  famine  and  disease, 
are  for  ever  around  the  voyager,  and  to  this  day 
there  is  no  harder  undertaking  than  the  voyag- 
ing and  wintering  among  the  icebergs  of  the 
Polar  Seas.  He  who  undertakes  it  even  now 
must  have  courage,  patience,  and  fortitude  under 
all  manner  of  sufferings.  Henry  Hudson  was  a 
voyager  amid  these  fearful  things. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  failures  about  a 
northern  passage,  a  number  of  rich  men,  living 
in  the  city  of  London,  still  hoped  .  that  the  pas- 
sage might  be  found :  and  in  the  year  1607, 
joined  themselves  together  as  a  London  Compa- 
ny, and  furnished  the  funds  necessary  for  making 
three  voyages.  They  were  determined  once 
more  to  search  for  the  passage  by  the  three  old 
routes,  north,  north-east,  and  north-west.  Know- 
ing that  everything  depended  upon  the  skill  of 
their  commander,  they  chose  for  their  man  Hen- 
ry Hudson 


HENRY    HUDSON.  21 

Hudson  readily  accepted  the  command,  and 
on  the  19th  of  April,  he,  with  his  crew,  consist- 
ing of  eleven  besides  himself,*  among  whom  was 
his  son  John  Hudson,  went  to  the  church  of 
Saint  Ethelburge  in  Bishopsgate-street,  and  there 
received  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper. 
This  was  one  part  of  their  preparation  for  going 
to  sea.  It  was  the  pious  and  beautiful  custom 
of  those  days,  for  sailors  to  do  this.  I  am  sorry 
that  it  has  grown  out  of  fashion :  it  was  but  say- 
ing to  the  whole  congregation,  that  they  were 
about  embarking  upon  the  sea  to  meet  unknow^n 
perils,  and  that  their  trust  was  in  God,  "  who 
alone  spreadeth  out  the  heavens  and  ruleth  the 
raging  of  the  sea." 

The  object  of  this  voyage  was  to  find  a  pas- 
sage directly  across  the  Pole,  or,  as  Hudson 
himself  says  in  his  journal,  it  was  "  for  to  dis- 
cover a  passage  by  the  North  Pole  to  Japan  and 
China," — and  you  will  bear  in  mind,  that  this 
was  the  first  effort  ever  made,  to  seek  a  passage 
directly  across  the  Pole. 

On  the  1st  day  of  May,  1607,  they  weighed 

*  The  names  of  the  crew,  as  given  in  the  Journal  of  this  voy- 
age of  1607,  were  as  follows :  "  Henry  Hudson,  master — Wil- 
liam  Colines,  mate — James  Young,  John  Colman,  John  Cooke, 
James  Beubery,  James  Skrutton,  John  Pleyce,  Thomas  Bax- 
ter, R-ichard  Day,  James  Knight,  and  John  Hudson." 


22  HENRY    HUDSON. 

anchor  at  Gravesend,  and  taking  a  northerly 
course,  in  twenty-six  days  reached  the  Shetlana 
Isles.  Here  Hudson  found  that  the  needle  had 
no  variation:  but  on  the  30th  of  JNIay,  (four 
days  after,)  he  "  found  the  needle  to  incline 
seventy-nine  degrees  under  the  horizon."  On 
the  4th  of  June  he  found  a  "  variation  of  five 
degrees  westerly."  From  the  Shetland  Isles, 
Hudson  stood  northw^est,  his  object  being,  as  it 
would  seem,  to  strike  the  coast  of  Greenland. 
Indeed,  he  supposed  Greenland  to  be  an  island, 
and  thought  that  by  keeping  a  northeast  course, 
he  might  possibly  pass  around  it.  In  a  week's 
time,  though  he  had  not  found  land,  he  made  a 
profitable  discovery,  for  he  tells  us  that  on  the 
11th  of  June,  he  saw  six  or  seven  whales  near 
his  ship.  Thus  you  will  mark  one  benefit  of 
this  voyage  at  once ;  for  afterward,  the  whale 
fishery  in  these  ?^^orthern  seas  became  a  business 
of  immense  profit,  to  his  countrymen.  Two  days 
after  this,  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  land  was 
seen  ahead,  and  some  ice ;  there  being  a  thick 
fog  at  the  time,  he  steered  away  northerly,  and 
the  wind  coming  on  to  blow  hard,  he  stood  aw^ay 
south  and  by  east  six  or  eight  leagues.  The 
weather  w^as  now  so  cold,  that  the  sails  and 
shrouds  of  his  ship  w^ere  covered  with  ice.     In  a 


HENRY   HUDSON.  23 

little  time  it  cleared  up,  and  Hudson  ^A-as  able  to 
take  a  fair  view  of  the  land.  He  could  now  see 
it  stretching  in  a  northeasterly  direction  nine 
leacrues  before  him.  "  The  land,"  he  says,  "  was 
very  high,  mostly  covered  with  snow.  At  the 
top  it  looked  reddish,  and  underneath  a  blackish 
clay,  with  much  ice  lying  about  it."  I  suppose 
this  reddish  appearance  was  what  is  sometimes 
called  red  snow.  In  those  countries  where  the 
snow^  is  almost  perpetual,  there  is  a  small  plant 
of  a  reddish  hue  which  grows  upon  the  snow, 
and  rapidly  spreads  itself  all  over  it.*  In  those 
northern  regions,the  snow-capped  hills  often  have 
this  covering  of  red,  and  it  is  said,  it  is  sometimes 
seen  even  upon  the  Alps  and  the  Appenines.  He 
noticed  too,  great  quantities  of  fowl  upon  the 
coast,  and  was  near  enough  to  see  a  whale  close 
by  the  shore.  There  was  a  man  of  the  crew 
named  James  Young,  and  I  presume  he  must 
have  been  the  first  to  have  observed  the  land,  as 
Hudson  called  the  head-land  before  them 
"  Young^s  Cape.''  Near  this  cape  he  saw  "  a 
high  mountain  like  a  round  castle,"  and  to  this 
he  gave  the  name  of  the  "  Mount  of  God's  mer- 
cy."    These  were  on  the  coast  of  Greenland. 

*  This  plant  is  known  as  the  Protococcus  Nivalis. 


24  HENRY    HUDSON. 

Harassed  by  thick  fogs,  storms  of  ram  and 
snow,  driven  sometimes  before  a  gale  of  wind, 
and  at  other  times  becalmed,  Hudson  still  held 
on  in  a  northeasterly  course.  He  was  unwilling 
to  be  driven  from  it,  being  anxious  to  know 
whether  the  land  that  he  had  seen  was  an  island 
or  a  part  of  Greenland  :  and  hoping,  above  all 
other  things,  that  he  might  find  Greenland  to  be 
an  island,  and  pass  easily  around  it.  The  fog, 
however,  continued  so  thick  and  heavy,  day  after 
day,  that  he  could  not  see  the  land,  until  at  last, 
discouraged  in  this  direction,  he  resolved  to  steer 
more  easterly,  hoping  to  fall  in  with  an  island 
which  he  calls  Newland,  the  same  island  that  is 
marked  upon  our  maps  and  charts  as  Spitzber- 

Having  sailed  some  sixteen  leagues  on  this  new 
course,  land  was  again  seen  on  the  left  hand,  (or 
larboard  side  of  the  ship,  as  sailors  say,)  stretch- 
ing southwest  and  northeast.  Hudson  thought 
that  he  was  within  four  leagues  of  the  land. 
He  observed  birds  flying  over  it,  but  different 
from  those  he  had  seen  before.  These  had 
"black  backs  and  white  bellies,  in  form  much 
like  a  duck."  Many  floating  pieces  of  ice,  too, 
were  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  ship  :  so  that  he 
had  to  move  carefully.    To  increase  his  anxiety, 


HENRY    HUDSON.  25 

the  fog  again  came  on,  and  he  began  to  fear  that 
his  ship  would  be  fastened  amid  these  blocks  of 
ice.  Still  keeping  a  lookout  as  well  as  he  could 
through  the  darkness,  for  the  point  where  the 
land  ended  eastwardly,  he  steered  northeast 
five  or  six  leagues,  and  then  turned  to  the  south. 
Again  he  was  unwilling  to  turn  aside  from  his 
purpose.  As  soon  therefore,  as  the  weather 
cleared  up,  he  stood  again  northeast,  and  in  a 
little  time  land  was  again  seen,  as  he  supposed, 
twelve  leagues  distant  from  him.  He  then  took 
an  observation,  and  found  this  land  to  be  in  72 
degrees  38  minutes  north  latitude.  This  land, 
too,  was  very  different  from  that  which  he  had 
seen  at  Young's  Cape  :  it  was  a  high  land,  not 
at  all  covered  with  snow,  and  the  southern  part 
rolled  away  into  very  high  mountains,  but  no 
snow  rested  upon  these.  To  his  surprise,  he 
found  the  weather  here  not  so  severe,  but  on  the 
contrary,  temperate  and  pleasant.  He  did 
not,  however,  explore  this  land  farther.  "  The 
many  fogs  and  calms,  with  contrary  winds,  and 
much  ice  near  the  shore,  held  us,"  (as  he  says,) 
"  from  farther  discovery  of  it."  As  he  knew  no 
name,  however,  as  yet  given  to  the  land,  (for 
his  charts  did  not  point  it  out,)  he  called  it  the 
land  of  Hol(^  with  Hope. 


26  HENRY  HUDSON. 

Hudson's  employers  had  desired  him  to  find 
the  passage  directly  across  the  Pole,  and  he  seems 
to  have  feared  that  his  time  might  be  thought 
wasted,  in  some  degree,  upon  the  coast  of 
Greenland.  In  his  journal,  therefore,  he  gives 
the  reason  for  this  delay.  "  The  chief  cause" 
(says  he)  "  that  moved  us  thereunto,  was  our  de- 
sire to  see  that  part  of  Greenland  which  (for  aught 
that  we  knew)  was  to  any  Christian  unknown : 
and  we  thought  it  might  as  well  have  been  open 
sea  as  land,  and  by  that  means  our  passage 
should  have  been  the  larger  to  the  Pole  :  and  the 
hope  of  having  a  westerly  wind,  which  would  be 
to  us  a  landerly  wind  if  we  found  land.  And, 
considering  we  found  land  contrary  to  that  which 
our  cards  make  mention  of,  we  accounted  our  la- 
bor so  much  the  more  worth.      And  for  au^ht 

o 

that  we  could  see,  it  is  like  to  be  a  good  land, 
and  worth  the  seeing." 

He  now  held  his  course  northeastward  toward 
Newland  or  Spitzbergen.  In  two  or  three  days, 
one  of  the  crew  again  saw  high  land  to  the  lar- 
board, which  fell  away  to  the  west  the  farther 
they  moved  north.  This  was  the  last  view  they 
had  of  Greenland. 

Still  pressing  on,  Hudson  had  continued  strug- 
gles against  hard  winds  and  heavy  fogs,  until  at 


HENRY   HUDSON.  27 

tasi  he  reached  a  latitude  so  high,  that  the 
sun  was  above  the  horizon  the  whole  twenty- 
fom  hours.  Here,  then,  the  fogs  could  not  annoy 
him  so  much.  On  the  night  of  the  25th,  he 
again  saw  birds  like  those  he  had  seen  upon  the 
coast  of  Greenland,  and  supposed  that  land  must 
be  near,  but  it  was  too  dark  for  him  to  discover 
it.  On  the  morning  of  the  26th,  he  again  saw 
birds  of  many  kinds  flying  about  his  ship,  and 
strained  his  eyes  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  land,  but 
the  heavy  fog  prevented.  The  next  morning 
the  fog  rolled  away  from  the  sea,  and  he  saw 
before  him  the  coast  of  Spitzbergen.  He  could 
not  see  it  very  plainly,  howe\er,  or  approach  it 
very  closely,  for  "  the  land  was  covered  with 
fog  :  the  ice  lying  very  thick  all  along  the  shore 
for  fifteen  or  sixteen  leagues."  He  coasted  along 
the  shore  through  the  day,  catching  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  land,  and  was  able  to  make  an 
observation,  by  which  he  found  himself  to  be  in 
the  78th  degree  of  latitude.  He  was  not  certain, 
but  supposed  that  he  was  now  near  a  point  on 
the  western  coast  of  Spitzbergen  known  by  the 
name  of  Vogel  Hooke  or  Vogelhoek.  He  was 
again  surprised  to  find  this  region  mild  and 
temperate  compared  with  that  about  Young's 
Cape. 


28  HENRY  HUDSON. 

His  effort  was  now  to  make  his  passage  by 
the  north  side  of  the  island,  and  he  kept  his  course, 
as  well  as  he  could,  almost  due  north.  I  say  as 
w^ell  as  he  could,  for  he  met  here,  perhaps,  great- 
er difficulties  than  in  any  former  part  of  the  voy- 
age. He  was  surrounded  by  ice,  fearing  almost 
every  moment  that  his  ship  would  be  dashed  to 
pieces  against  the  floating  masses — head  winds 
prevailed  against  him,  forcing  him  almost  daily 
to  change  his  course,  and  storms  were  his  con- 
stant companions  for  more  than  a  fortnight.  Still, 
in  spite  of  all  these  trials,  he  worked  his  course 
north v/ard,  noticing,  in  his  way,  large  num- 
bers of  morses,  seals,  and  sometimes  bears,  until 
he  began  to  fear  that  the  ice  would  not  allow 
him  to  make  the  passage  on  this  side  of  the  isl- 
and. It  would  seem,  that  some  of  his  men  found 
time  to  attack  the  bears,  for  several  of  them,  he 
tells  us,  were  made  sick  by  eating  bears'  flesh. 
During  this  fortnight,  he  observed  one  thing 
which  was  curious :  the  sea  was  at  times  blue, 
green,  and  black,  and  the  green  sea  he  found  to 
be  freest  from  ice,  while  the  blue  sea  was  almost 
always  crowded  with  it. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  it  was  calm  with 
fog.  Yet  they  were  able  to  see  a  bay  open 
toward  the  west,  enclosed  by  high  and  ragged 


HENRY   HUDSON.  29 

land.     The  northerly  point  of  this  land,  which 
was  very  high  and  bleak,  was  first  seen  by  Wil- 
liam Collins,  the  boatswain,  and  they  instantly 
gave  it  the  name  of  Collins  Cape,    On  the  south 
side  of  the  bay,  they  discovered  three  or  four 
small  islands  or  rocks.    Great  numbers  of  whales 
were  sporting  in  the  bay,  and  while  one  of  the 
men  was  amusing  himself  with  a  hook  and  hne 
overboard  to  try  for  fish,  one  of  these  whales 
passed  under  the  keel  of  the  ship,  and  "  made 
her  held."    They  were  greatly  alarmed,  and  very 
grateful  when  the  danger  was  over.   "  By  God's 
mercy,"  (says  Hudson,)  "  we  had  no  harm  but 
the  loss  of  the  hook  and  three  parts  of  the  line." 
They  found  the  weather  hot,  though  the  swamps 
and  valleys  near  the  shore  were  filled  with  snow. 
John  Colman,  the  mate,  and  Collins,  the  boat- 
swain, went  ashore  here  with  two  others,  and 
found  a  pair  of  morse's  teeth  in  the  jaw,  quanti- 
ties of  whale's  bones,  and  some  dozen  or  more 
deer's  horns.      They  saw  too,  the  tracks  of  ani- 
mals on  the  shore.     The  weather  w^as  so  hot 
that  they  were  glad  to  find  two  or  three  streams 
of  fresh  water  rolling  into  the  bay,  where  they 
quenched  their  thirst.      The  men  returned,  and 
the  wind  being  in  their  favor,  they  again  steered 
north-east. 

3* 


30  HENRY   HUDSON. 

Or.  the  16lh  the  weather  was  clear,  the  wind 
north;  and  Hudson  found  himself  surrounded  by 
ice  in  every  direction.  He  could  see  the  land 
and  ice  extending  north-east  far  into  the  82d 
degree  of  latitude,  and  seemingly  much  farther, 
and  he  was  now  convinced  that  he  could  not 
make  his  way  through  the  ice  on  the  north  side 
of  the  island.  The  wind,  too,  was  fair  just  at 
the  moment,  and  he  determined  now  to  sail 
round  the  southern  point  of  the  island,  and  press 
his  course  north-east,  hoping  to  make  the  passage 
on  that  side.  He  continued  his  course  south  for 
more  than  a  week,  coasting  along  the  shores  of 
Spitzbergen,  when,  on  the  25th,  he  saw  the  land 
bearing  north.  But  then  he  was  discouraged 
from  turning  the  point,  and  moving  toward  the 
north-east — for  by  this  time  he  had  observed  the 
general  prevalence  of  the  winds  on  the  coast, 
and  found  that  it  would  be  impossible.  This 
plan,  therefore,  he  was  forced  to  abandon,  and 
now  he  resolved  once  more  "  to  prove  his  for- 
tunes" by  the  west.  His  aim  was  nothing  less 
than  to  pass  round  the  north  of  Greenland,  (sup- 
posing it  to  be  an  island,)  and  return  by  Davis' 
Straits  to  England.  With  a  heart  full  of  hope, 
he  now  shaped  his  course  westward. 

Tw^o  days  after  this,  while  nearly  becalmed, 


HENRY   HUDSON.  31 

they  were  suddenly  startled  by   a  tremendous 
noise,  made  by  the  ice  and  the  sea.     Immense 
mountains  of  floating  ice  surrounded  them,  and 
the  waves,  rolling  high,  were  heaving  the  ship 
continually  westward   toward  them.      In  their 
fright,  they  lowered  their  boat,  in  the  hope  of 
turning  the  ship  away  from  the  ice ;  but  in  this 
they  failed,  the  waves  rolling  so  high  that  the 
boat,  more  than  once,  came  near  being  swamped. 
"In  this  extremity,"  (says  Hudson,)  "  it  pleased 
God  to  give  us  a  small  gale,  at  north-west  and 
by   west.      We   steered    away   south-east   four 
ieao-ues,  till  noon.     Here  we  had  finished  oui 
discovery,  if  the  wind  had  continued  that  brought 
us  hither,  or  if  it  had  continued  calm ;  but  it 
pleased  God  to  make  this   north-west  and  by 
west  wind  the  means  of  our  dehverance ;  which 
wind,  we  had  not  found  common  in  this  voyage. 
God  give  us  thankful  hearts  for  so  great  deliver- 
ance." 

The  weather  cleared  up  at  noon,  and  they 
saw  the  ice  reflected  by  the  sky,  bearing  from 
south-west  to  north-east.  As  they  approached 
still  nearer  to  Greenland,  the  sky  reflected  the 
ice  still  farther  and  farther,  until  Hudson  was 
satisfied  that  he  could  find  nio  passage  around 
the  north  of  Greenland.   A  westerly  wind  spring- 


32  HENllY   HUDSON. 

ing  up,  therefore,  he  altered  his  course,  and 
steered  south-east.  He  now  began  to  think  of 
making  his  way  back  to  England.  The  thick 
fogs  still  annoyed  him  ;  his  ship  stores  were  be- 
ginning to  fail ;  the  season,  too,  was  far  advanc- 
ed, and  it  was  well-nigh  certain  that  he  could 
not  make  the  passage  this  year.  Keeping  a 
southerly  course,  he  again  passed  the  southern 
coast  of  Spitzbergen — the  land  being,  as  he  says, 
"  not  ragged,  as  all  the  rest  we  had  seen  this 
voyage" — came  in  sight  of  Cheries  Island,  for 
which  he  was  keeping  a  lookout,  and  saw  the 
land  covered  with  cragged  rocks,  "  like  hay- 
cocks." Still  pressing  south,  on  the  15th  of 
August,  he  put  into  w^hat  he  calls  "  the  Isles  of 
Farre,"  (meaning,  I  suppose,  the  Faroe  Islands,) 
and  on  the  15th  of  September,  he  arrived  at 
Tilbury  Hope  on  the  Thames.* 

Thus  you  will  perceive,  that  after  a  hard  voy- 
age of  four  months  and  a  half,  Hudson  returned 
without  success.  Yet  his  employers  were  suffi- 
ciently pleased,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  to  trust 
him  with  their  second  adventure.  And  though 
he  failed  in  the  main  enterprise,  his  voyage  was 
far  from  being  useless. 

*  The  journal  of  this  voyage,  made  in  1607,  will  be  found  in 
*'  Pur chas  his  Pilgrims,^'  written  partly  by  Henry  Hudson, 
and  partly  by  John  Pleyce,  one  of  his  men. 


HENRY    HUDSON.  33 

He  advanced  farther  north  than  any  naviga- 
tor had  been  known  to  proceed  before  :  his  voy- 
age opened  the  commerce  of  the  whale  fishery 
to  his  countrymen ;  and  some  have  said  that  he 
was  the  discoverer  of  Spitzbergen.*  This  last 
supposition,  however,  is  a  mistake.  While  we 
are  anxious  to  give  full  credit  to  Hudson  for 
whatever  he  may  have  done,  we  should  be  un- 
wilhng  to  detract  from  the  fair  fame  of  another 
man.  That  island  was  first  discovered  in  the 
year  1596,  by  William  Barentz,  a  Dutch  navi- 
gator. It  received  from  him  the  name  of  Spitz- 
bergen,  from  its  mountainous  appearance,  and 
the  quantities  of  ice  and  snow  that  lay  around  it. 
The  remarkable  headland  which  had  been  seen 
by  Hudson,  Barentz  had  called  Vogelhoek,  from 
the  number  of  birds  that  he  saw  there.  After 
this,  the  island  was  sometimes,  by  the  Hollanders, 
called  Newland.  It  is  strange  that  any  one 
should  have  thought  Hudson  the  discoverer  of 
Spitzbergen,  since  he  himself,  in  his  journal, 
speaks  of  the  island  as  Newland,  evidently  know- 
mg  where  it  was,  and  also  of  the  promontoiy 
Vogelhoek,  which  I  presume  was  laid  down  in 
his  charts. 

*  Forster's  Voyages  ;  Yates  and  Moulton's  History  of  New 
York  ;  Belknap's  American  Biography  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  in  a 
discourse  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society  in  1S09. 


34  HENRY   HUDSON. 

The  most  that  can  be  said  is,  that  Hudson 
rediscovered  Spitzbergen,  and  this  has  been 
said  ;*  but  it  is  scarcely  true.  Hudson's  speak- 
ing so  plainly  of  the  island,  contradicts  this  state- 
ment also. 

All  that  we  claim  for  him,  therefore,  in  this 
voyage  is,  that  with  unwavering  fortitude,  amid 
constant  trials,  he  pressed  his  way  farther  north 
than  any  other  navigator  had  been  before,  and 
opened  a  new  and  extensive  field  of  commerce 
to  the  English  people. 

•  Scoresby,  in  his  account  of  the  Arctic  Regions. 


CHAPTER  n. 

Henry  Hudson  makes  his  second  voyage,  in 
search  of  a  J^orth- eastern  Passage  to  India — 
Reaches  the  north  side  of  A'^ova  Zembla,  and  is 
stopped  by  the  Ice — Hopes  to  make  his  passage 
on  the  south  side  by  the  Vaygatz  Straits — Find- 
ing a  large  River  or  Sound  in  JVova  Zembla^  is 
induced  to  try  that  for  his  passage — Sails  up 
this — Resolves  to  return — Searches  for  Wil- 
loughby^s  Land — Arrives  in  England  after  an 
absence  of  four  months  and  four  days. 

As  soon  as  the  spring  was  fairly  opened  the 
next  year,  Hudson  commenced  making  his  pre- 
parations for  a  second  voyage.  This  time  he 
was  to  seek  his  passage  for  the  East  Indies  in 
the  north-east,  by  passing  between  Spitzbergen 
and  Nova  Zembla. 

With  a  crew  consisting,  in  all,-  of  fifteen  per 


36  HENRY    HUDSON. 

sons,*  (among  whom  again  was  his  son  John 
Hudson,)  he  set  sail  from  London  on  the  22d  of 
April.  The  wind  was  fair,  and  so  continued  day- 
after  day ;  but  as  he  sailed  north,  heavy  fogs 
again  met  him,  so  that  it  was  the  24th  of  May 
before  he  found  himself  off  the  coast  of  Norway 
The  weather  now  cleared  up,  and  the  cold,  which 
had  been  increasing  for  some  days,  became  so 
severe  that  several  of  the  men  were  taken  sick. 
Philip  Stacie,  the  carpenter,  seems  to  have  suf- 
fered most.  Improving  this  clear  weather,  he 
pressed  north-east  as  rapidly  as  he  could.  On 
the  29th  he  had  reached  a  latitude  so  high  that 
"  the  sun  was  on  the  meridian  above  the  horizon 
five  degrees,"  and  he  was  able  to  take  an  obser- 
vation at  midnight.  In  two  days  more  his  fine 
weather  passed  away;  for,  on  the  1st  of  June, 
he  had  a  hard  north-easterly  gale  with  snow. 
For  two  days  he  struggled  against  the  storm, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  he  saw  the  J\'^orth 
Cape,  about  eight  leagues  distant,  as  he  suppos- 

*  The  names  of  these  persons,  as  given  in  the  Journal  of  this 
voyage  of  160S,  were  as  follows:  "Henry  Hudson,  master 
and  pilot ;  Robert  Juet^  mate  ;  Ludlow  Arnall,  John  Cooke, 
boatswain;  Philip  Stacio,"  carpenter ;  John  Barns,  John 
Braunch,  cook ;  John  Adrey,  James  Strutton,  Michael 
Feirce,  Thomas  Hilles,  Richard  Tomson,  Robert  Raynor 
Humfrey  Gilby,  aad  John  Hudson." 


HENRY   HUDSON. 


37 


ed,  and  discovered  several  Norway  fishermen  in 
sio-ht.     Keeping  his  course  north-east,  on  the  9th 
of  June,  in  the  latitude  of  75  degrees,  he  fell  in 
with  ice,  the  first  he  had  seen  on  the  voyage. 
Hoping  to  pass  through,  he  stood  into  it,  loos- 
ening some  of  it,  and  bearing   away  from  the 
larger  masses  until  he  had  passed  into  it  four  or 
five  leagues.   Here  he  found  the  ice  so  thick  and 
firm  ahead,  that  he  began  to  fear  he  had  pro- 
ceeded too  far,  and  might  be  fastened.     This 
forced  him  to  return  by  the  same  way  he  went 
in,  fortunately  suffering  no  damage  (as  he  says) 
except  "  a  few  rubs  of  the  ship  against  the  ice." 
For  more  than  a  fortnight  he  still  pressed  east- 
ward, struggling  with  the  ice,  but  failed  to  reach 
a  higher  latitude.     At  one  time  he  would  meet 
large  quantities  of  drift-wood  driving  by  the  ship, 
then  he  would  see  large  numbers  of  whales  and 
porpoises,  and   the   sea  seemed   almost  cover- 
ed with  birds  floating  over  it.     Then  again  he 
would  see  numbers  of  seals  lying  upon  the  ice, 
and  hear  the  bears  roaring.     It  was  during  this 
fortnight,  that  two  of  his  men  declared  they  saw 
somethino-  strano'er  than  all  this.     Thomas  Hilles 
and  Robert   Raynor   positively   asserted,   that 
on  the  morning  of  the  15th  they  saw  a  mermaid 
close  by  the  ship's   side,  looking  earnestly  at 
4 


38  HENRY   HUDSON. 

them.  A  sea  soon  came  and  overturned  her ; 
but  they  saw  her  distinctly.  Her  body  was  as 
large  as  a  man's,  her  back  and  breast  were  Uke 
a  woman's,  her  skin  very  white,  and  she  had  long 
black  hair  hanging  down  behind.  As  she  w^ent 
down  they  saw  her  tail,  which  was  like  the  tail 
of  a  porpoise,  and  speckled  like  a  mackerel. 

On  the  25th,  being  still  hemmed  in  wath  ice, 
w^hile  head  winds  w^ere  still  prevailing,  he  found 
that,  in  spite  of  every  effort,  he  was  drifting  to- 
ward the  south.  He  w^as  now  convinced  that 
he  could  not  proceed  farther  on  the  north  side  of 
Nova  Zembla,  and  resolved  to  seek  his  passage 
on  the  south  side  of  the  island,  by  the  straits 
known  as  "the  Vaygatz ;  to  pass  by  the  mouth 
of  the  River  Oh,  and  to  double  that  way  the 
North  Cape  of  Tartaria."  These  straits  are  be- 
tween the  southernmost  parts  of  Nova  Zembla, 
and  the  northern  coast  of  Russia.  He  now  shaped 
his  course  south,  and  the  next  day,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  four  or  five  leagues,  saw  that  part  of 
Nova  Zembla,  known  by  the  Hollanders  as 
Swart  Cliffe.  Being  only  two  miles  from  the 
land,  he  sent  six  of  his  men  ashore  to  take  a 
survey  of  the  country,  and  fill  the  casks  with 
water.  They  found  the  shore  covered  with 
grass  'j  the  land  was  marshy,  and  several  streams, 


HENRY  HUDSON.  39 

made  by  the  melting  snow,  were  rolling  through 
it.  In  looking  around,  they  saw  the  tracks  of 
bears,  deers,  and  foxes  -,  and  after  picking  up 
some  whales'  fins  and  deer's  horns,  they  returned 
to  the  ship.  The  sea  was  calm  as  they  came 
back,  and  they  saw  two  or  three  herds  of  morses 
swimming  near  the  ship.  Hudson  now  sent 
seven  other  men  ashore  to  the  place  where  he 
thought  the  morses  might  come  in;  but  they 
failed  in  taking  one  of  them.  These  men  found 
a  cross  standing  on  the  shore,  quantities  of  drift- 
wood, and  signs  of  fires  that  had  been  recently 
kindled  there.  Gathering  some  moss,  and  such 
flowers  as  grew  in  that  cold  latitude,  and  taking 
two  pieces  of  the  cross,  they  also  returned  to 
the  ship. 

On  the  29th,  they  again  saw  large  numbers 
of  morses  in  the  water ;  and  in  the  hope  of  fol- 
lowing them,  and  finding  where  they  would  land, 
they  hoisted  sail,  and  got  out  the  boat  to  tow 
the  ship  along.  The  chase  proved  fruitless  :  but 
it  brought  them  to  the  mouth  of  a  broad  river  or 
sound,  where  they  anchored  near  a  small  island. 
The  ice  was  running  rapidly  down  the  stream, 
and  they  were  forced  to  weigh  an^.hor  twice  in 
the  night,  and  stand  out  to  free  themselves  from 
danger.     In  the  morning  he  again  came  to  his 


40  HENRY   HUDSON. 

old  anchorage  near  the  island.  On  a  small  rock 
near  by,  he  saw  forty  or  fifty  morses  lying  asleep. 
He  sent  all  his  crew  after  them,  except  his  son 
John ;  but  they  succeeded  in  killing  only  one  of 
them,  the  rest  plunging  rapidly  in  the  water. 
Before  they  came  aboard,  how^ever,  they  landed 
on  the  island,  where  they  killed  some  fowls  and 
found  some  eggs. 

The  thought  now  struck  Hudson,  that  instead 
of  trying  his  passage  by  the  Vaygatz  Straits,  he 
would  attempt  to  make  his  w^ay  through  this 
broad  stream  before  him.  He  hoped  that  in 
this  way  he  might  reach  the  east  side  of  Nova 
Zembla.  Then,  too,  the  morses  invited  him,  for 
he  hoped  by  taking  them  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  voyage.  "  Being  here,"  (he  says,)  "  and 
hoping,  by  the  plenty  of  morses  we  saw  here,  to 
defray  the  charge  of  our  voyage ;  and  also  that 
this  sound  might,  for  some  reasons,  be  a  better 
passage  to  the  east  of  Nova  Zembla  than  the 
Vaygatz,  if  it  held,  according  to  my  hope,  con- 
ceived by  the  likeness  it  gave :  for  whereas  we 
had  a  flood  come  from  the  northward,  yet  this 
sound  or  river  did  run  so  strong,  that  ice  with 
the  stream  of  this  river  was  carried  away,  or  any- 
thing else  against  the  flood  :  so  that  both  in  flood 
and  ebb,  the  stream  doth  hold  a  strong  course : 


HENRY   HUDSON.  41 

and  it  floweth  from  the  north  three  hours  and 
ebbeth  nine." 

He  now  sent  the  mate,  with  several  of  the  men, 
to  explore  the  mouth  of  this  river.  The  next 
day  they  came  back,  having  their  boat  laden 
with  drift-wood,  and  bringing  with  them  a  large 
deer's  horn,  a  lock  of  white  hair,  and  great 
quantities  of  fowl.  They  had  a  very  good  story 
to  tell.  They  had  seen  a  herd  of  ten  white  deer, 
much  drift-wood  lying  on  the  shore,  many  good 
bays,  and  one  fine  river  on  the  north  shore,  which 
looked  like  a  good  place  for  morses — though 
they  saw  none  there.  They  saw  signs  that  the 
morses  had  been  in  the  bay.  As  for  the  particu- 
lar river  which  they  were  to  explore,  they  had 
found  it  two  or  three  leagues  broad,  and  no 
ground  at  twenty  fathoms — the  water  was  of  the 
color  of  the  sea,  very  salt,  and  the  stream  set 
strongly  out  of  it. 

This  report  w^as  so  encouraging  that  Hudson 
soon  hoisted  sail,  and  steered  up  the  river.  In  a 
little  time  he  passed  a  reef,  where  he  found  only 
five  or  six  fathoms'  depth,  and  was  then  in  thirty- 
four  fathoms  water.  He  continued  his  course  for 
nine  leagues,  still  finding  the  water  deep,  until 
the  wind  coming  out  ahead,  and  the  stream  run- 
ning too  strongly  against  him,  he  was  forced  to 
4* 


42  HENRY   HUDSON. 

cast  anchor.  He  now  ris^ged  up  the  boat  with 
a  sail,  and  furnishing  Juet  the  mate,  and  five  of 
the  crew,  with  provisions  and  weapons,  sent 
them  up  the  river  to  take  soundings.  They  were 
to  continue  their  course,  provided  the  water  con* 
tinned  deep,  until  they  found  the  stream  bending 
to  the  east  or  southward.  The  ship  was  to  fol- 
low them  as  soon  as  a  favorable  wind  offered. 
About  the  middle  of  the  next  day  the  men  re- 
turned very  tired,  bringing  a  very  unfavorable 
report.  They  had  been  up  the  river  six  or  seven 
leagues,  sounding  it  all  the  way,  until  at  last 
they  found  only  four  feet  of  water.  They  knew 
that  the  ship  could  not  pass  this  point :  so  they 
did  not  explore  farther,  but  after  landing,  gather- 
ing some  flowers,  and  seeing  great  numbers  of 
deer,  they  returned  to  the  ship. 

All  that  remained  for  him  now  was  to  return. 
Setting  sail,  therefore,  he  passed  down  the  river 
much  disappointed,  or,  as  he  himself  says  in  the 
Journal,  "  with  sorrow  that  our  labor  was  in 
vain ;  for,  had  this  sound  held  as  it  did  make 
show  of,  for  breadth,  depth,  safeness  of  harbor, 
and  good  anchor-ground,  it  might  have  yielded 
an  excellent  passage  to  a  more  easterly  sea."  It 
w^as  here,  too,  that  he  seems  to  have  been  par- 
ticularly pleased  with  the  appearance  of  Nova 


HENRY   HUDSON.  43 

Zembla,  under  its  arctic  midsummer ;  for  he  says, 
"  it  was  to  a  man's  eye  a  pleasant  land  ;  much 
main  high  land,  with  no  snow  on  it,  looking  in 
some  places  green,  and  deer  feeding  thereon." 
In  the  evening  he  sent  five  of  his  men  ashore, 
hoping  again  that  they  might  find  morses  ;  but 
they  found  none,  though  they  saw  many  good  land- 
ing places  for  them.  They  discovered  signs  of  a 
fire  that  had  been  made  on  shore,  and  returned, 
bringing  with  them  a  hundred  fowls,  called 
''  Wellocks." 

It  was  now  the  6th  of  July,  and  Hudson  knew 
it  was  too  late  to  attempt  his  passage  by  the 
Vaygatz,  He  therefore  shaped  his  course  west- 
ward, hoping  to  visit  by  the  way  Willoughhy^s 
Land,*  that  he  might  see  if  it  w^as  correctly  laid 
down  in  his  chart.  Still  intent  upon  defraying, 
if  possible,  the  expenses  of  his  voyage,  he  thought 
if  he  should  find  this  land  he  would  discover 
there  abundance  of  morses,  driven  down  by  the 
ice  from  Nova  Zembla.  But,  unfortunately,  he 
did  not  come  in  sight  of  that  land.  He  was  yet 
in  the  region  of  the  ice,  and  discovered,  as  in  the 
last  voyage,  that  in  the  green  sea  he  was  most 
free  from  it,  while  in  the  blue  sea  he  was  almost 

*  Some  have  supposed  that  Willoughby's  Land  is  the  same 
as  Spitzbergen,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 


44  HENRY   HUDSON. 

sure  to  be  troubled  with  it.  Keeping  his  west- 
erly course,  in  ten  days  he  saw  the  promontory 
of  Wardhuys  off  the  coast  of  Lapland,  and  in  a 
little  time  passed  the  JVorth  Cape.  Being  now 
off  the  coast  of  Norway,  the  nights  had  again 
become  so  dark  that  he  was  forced  to  use  a  can- 
dle in  the  binacle,  which  thing  he  had  not  before 
found  necessary  since  the  19th  of  May. 

Hudson's  heart  still  leaned  toward  the  experi- 
ment of  sailing  north  of  Greenland,  and  he  would 
willingly  have  moved  in  that  direction,  but  the 
season  was  now  too  far  advanced  ;  and  he  thought 
it  his  duty  "  to  save  victuall,  wages,  and  tackle^ 
and  not  by  foolish  rashness,  the  time  being  wast- 
ed, to  lay  more  charge  upon  the  action  than 
necessity  should  compel."  He  kept  his  course, 
therefore,  for  England,  and  arrived  at  Gravesend 
on  the  26th  of  August,  having  been  absent,  this 
time,  four  months  and  four  days.* 

*The  Journal  of  this  voyage,  made  in  160S,w'nttec  by  Hen- 
ry Hudson  himself  will  also  be  found  in  '*  Purchcu  his  Pil- 
grims.'- 


CHAPTER  HI. 

Henry  Hudsori's  employers  disappointed — He 
now  passes  over  to  Holland,  and  seeks  employ' 
ment  from  the  Dutch  East  India  Company — 
Leaves  Amsterdam  on  his  third  voyage,  in  the 
ship  Half  Moon,  in  the  spri?ig  of  1609 — Fails 
in  7/iaking  his  passage  through  the  Vaygatz — 
Sails  westward,  reaches  the  coast  of  America — 
Enters  Pe?iobscot  Bay — His  intercourse  with 
the  Indians — Passes  Cape  Cod,  and  sails  south 
beyond  Chesapeake  Bay — Turns  north  again, 
— Discovers  Delaware  Bay  ;  and,  passing  on, 
drops  anchor  within  Sandy  Hook — After  a 
week  spe?it  in  exploring  below,  passes  theJ^ar- 
rows  and  anchors  in  JVew  York  Bay. 

Upon  Hudson's  return,  the  company  that  had 
employed  him  were  greatly  disappointed,  and 
unwilling  at  present  to  make  any  farther  effort. 
But  Hudson's  heart  was  still  bent  upon  the  great 
purpose  for  which  he  had  been  laboring.  Un- 
willing therefore  to  wait,  he  passed  over  to  Hol- 
land to  offer  his  services  to  the  Dutch  East  India 


46  HENRY   HUDSON. 

Company.  His  fame  had  gone  there  before  him , 
they  all  knew  him  as  "  the  bold  Englishman, 
the  expert  pilot,  and  the  famous  navigator." 
There  was  one  man  of  this  company,  Balthazor 
Moucheron,  who  had  made  large  and  unsuccess- 
ful adventures  in  Arctic  voyages,  and  was  there- 
fore opposed  to  another  effort,  even  under  Henry 
Hudson.  But  the  company,  without  overcoming 
his  objections,  still  met  the  views  of  Hudson ; 
accordingly  the  small  ship  (or  as  some  say  the 
yacht)  Half  Moon  was  soon  equipped,  and  the 
command  intrusted  to  him.  With  a  crew  con- 
sisting of  twenty  Englishmen  and  Dutchmen,  or, 
as  some  say,  only  sixteen,*  among  whom  was 
Robert  Juet,  who  had  served  as  mate  in  his  last 
voyage,  he  was  now  ready  to  brave  again  the 
ice  and  storms  of  the  Arctic  seas. 

His  object  was  now  to  try  his  passage  once 
more  by  the  north  side  of  Nova  Zenibla,  or  on 
the  south  through  the  Vaygatz  Straits.  He  de- 
parted from  Amsterdam  on  the  25th  of  INIarch, 
and  on  the.  27th,  left  the  Texel.  In  little  more 
than  a  month  he  doubled  the  North  Cape,  and 
pressing  on,  was  ere  long  upon  the  coast  of  No- 
va Zembla.  Head  winds,  ice,  and  fog  here  met 
him  again,  and   after  more  than  a  fortnight's 

♦  Lambrechtsen  says,  16  men,  Englishmen  and  Hollanders. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  47 

struggle  against  them,  he  gave  up  tlie  hope  of 
reaching  India  by  the  Vaygafz,  or  indeed  by 
any  north-eastern  route.  In  this  time  of  disap- 
pointment, he  was  not  discouraged,  but  seems 
to  have  had  many  plans.  He  had  heard  of 
America  and  the  vast  discoveries  made  there ; 
and  he  thought,  by  sailing  westerly,  that  he 
tOo  might  make  some  discovery  which  would 
repay  his  employers  for  his  failure.  Moreover, 
he  had  with  him  some  maps  which  had  been 
given  to  him  by  his  old  friend.  Captain  John 
Smith,  on  which  a  strait  was  marked  south  of 
Virginia,  offering  a  passage  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
or  great  South  Sea,  as  it  was  then  called — and 
by  this  passage  he  might  hope  to  reach  the  East 
Indies.  Then  too,  he  thought  of  his  former  plan ; 
a  passage  by  the  north-west,  through  Davis's 
Straits.  He  now  proposed  to  his  crew,  either  to 
seek  a  passage  south  through  the  strait  laid  down 
by  Smith,  or  to  sail  for  the  north-west.  Many 
of  his  men  had  been  trained  in  the  East  India  ser- 
vice, were  accustomed  to  sailing  in  warm  tropical 
climates,  and  chose  therefore,  to  sail  south  rather 
than  meet  the  severities  of  the  northern  seas. 
Now  then,  he  steered  his  course  westerly,  soon 
doubled  the  North  Cape  again,  and  by  the  last 
of  May,  reached  one  of  the  Faroe  Islands. 


48  HENRY    HUDSON. 

He  remained  here  twenty-four  hours,  and  had 
his  casks  filled  with  fresh  water.  They  then 
hoisted  sail  and  steered  south-west,  hoping  to 
reach  Buss  Island,  which  had  been  discovered  in 
1578,  by  Martin  Frolisher.  The  island  was  in- 
correctly laid  down  in  his  chart,  and  he  did  not 
find  it.  He  next  shaped  his  course  for  JYew- 
foundland.  For  more  than  three  weeks  he 
now  encountered  storms  and  constant  gales  of 
wind,  until  at  last  his  foremast  was  carried 
away.  He  rigged  up  what  sailors  call  a  jury- 
mast,  but  the  gales  continuing,  his  foresail  was 
split.  Notwithstanding  the  tempests,  he  man- 
aged to  run  down  as  far  as  the  forty-fifth  degree 
of  latitude.  Here  he  met  a  heavy  gale  from  the 
south-east,  but  still  kept  on  his  course.  Three 
days  after  this  he  saw  a  sail  standing  to  the  east, 
and  hoping  "  to  speak  her,"  he  turned  from  his 
course  and  gave  chase  j  but  finding,  as  night  came 
on,  that  he  could  not  overtake  her,  he  again 
turned  westerly.  Early  in  July,  he  found  him- 
self off  the  coast  of  JYeufoimdlaiid,  and  saw  a 
great  fleet  of  Frenchmen  fishing  on  the  banks. 
Finding  himself  here  becalmed  several  davs,  he 
sent  his  crew  to  the  banks  to  try  their  luck  at 
fishing.  In  this  they  proved  very  successful — 
taking  in  one  day  one  hundred  and  thirty  cod- 


HENRY    HUDSON.  49 

fish.  The  wind  again  springing  up,  they  sailed 
westerly.  On  the  9th,  they  spoke  a  Frenchman 
who  lay  fishing  at  Sable  Island  bank.  They 
soon  cleared  the  banks,  passed  the  shore  of  Nova 
Scotia,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,  saw  the 
coast  of  North  America  before  them.  The  fog 
was  now  so  thick  that  for  several  days  they  were 
afraid  to  approach  the  land  ;  but  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  18th,  the  weather  cleared  up,  and 
they  ran  into  a  "  good  harbor"  at  the  mouth  of 
a  large  river,  in  the  latitude  of  forty-four  degrees. 
This  was  Penobscot  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Maine.* 
Hudson  had  already  seen  some  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  new"  country ;  for  on  the  morning 
of  the  19th,  while  they  were  standing  off,  unable 
to  enter  the  harbor,  two  boats  came  off  to  him, 
with  six  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  who 
"  seemed  very  glad  at  his  coming."  He  gave 
them  some  trifling  presents,  and  they  ate  and 
drank  with  him.  They  told  him  that  there  were 
gold,  silver,  and  copper  mines  near  by,  and  that 
the  French  people  were  in  the  habit  of  trading 
with  them.  One  of  them  he  found  could  speak 
a  little  French. 

*  Rev.  Dr,  Miller,  in  his  lecture  delivered  before  the  New 
York  Historical  Society,  in  1809,  thinks  the  place  of  their  ar- 
rival was  at  or  near  Portland,  in  the  State  of  Maine. 


50  HENRY   HUDSON. 

He  now  made  his  observation  of  the  harbor. 
He  describes  it  as  lying  north  and  south  a  mile; 
he  could  see  the  river  a  great  way  up,  and  found 
that  he  was  in  four  fathoms  of  water.  The  first 
thing  to  be  done,  was  to  rig  up  a  new  foremast, 
and  mend  the  sails.  Some  went  to  work  at  the 
sails,  and  others  went  ashore  to  cut  the  mast. 
They  needed  a  fresh  supply  of  water  also,  and 
some  went  in  search  of  that,  while  others  amused 
themselves  in  catching  lobsters.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  people  of  the  country  came  aboard  in  great 
numbers.  They  were  very  friendly,  and  seem 
not  to  have  been  at  all  afraid  of  Hudson's  men, 
while  the  men  were  afraid  of  them,  all  the  time 
saying  "  they  could  not  be  trusted."  Two  French 
shallops  came  to  the  ship,  filled  with  Indians 
bringing  beaver-skins  and  fine  furs,  which  they 
wished,  like  Indians,  to  trade  for  articles  of  dress, 
knives,  hatchets,  kettles,  trinkets,  beads,  and 
other  trifles. 

Hudson's  men  could  not  overcome  their  fool- 
ish distrust  of  these  Indians.  They  were  so  very 
suspicious,  that  every  night  they  kept  a  strict 
watch  from  the  ship,  to  see  where  their  shallops 
were  laid.  At  last,  their  mast  being  ready  and 
their  sails  mended,  the  day  before  they  started, 
they  manned  "  the  scute"  with  six  men  and  four 


HENRY   HUDSON.  51 

muskets,  look  one  of  the  shallops,  and  brought 
it  on  board.  This  was  base  enough  ;  but  they 
now  proceeded  to  a  more  disgraceful  action. 
They  "  manned  their  boat  and  'scute'  with  twelve 
men  and  muskets,  and  two  stone  pieces  or  mur- 
derers, and  drove  the  savages  from  their  houses, 
and  took  the  spoil  of  them."  It  seems  that  the 
poor  natives  had  never  done  them  the  least  harm ; 
their  only  excuse  for  this  cowardly  meanness, 
being  that  they  supposed  they  wished  to  do 
them  harm — a  supposition  without  any  founda- 
tion, proceeding  only  from  their  own  idle  fears 
It  is  to  the  disgrace  of  Hudson,  that  this  thing 
was  permitted ;  and  the  only  excuse  that  can  be 
offered  for  him  is,  that  he  probably  had  undei 
his  command  a  wild  and  ungovernable  set  of 
men.  It  is  said  that  they  had  many  quarrels 
with  the  natives,  and  perhaps,  in  the  exaspera- 
tion of  their  feelings,  Hudson  found  it  impossible 
to  control  them.  Even  this,  however,  is  a  poor 
excuse  for  him;  for  he  was  a  man  in  the  habit  of 
^uhng  his  men  rather  than  being  ruled  by  them. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  did  not  wiUingly  allow 
this  cruelty  to  proceed. 

On  the  next  morning  (July  26)  he  set  sail, 
steeringr  southward  alono^  the  coast  of  America. 
In  a  little  time  he  came  within  sight  of  Cape 


52  HENRY   HUDSON 

Cod.  Anxious  to  double  this  headland,  and 
afraid  to  approach  a  coast  of  ^vhich  he  was  ig- 
norant, he  sent  five  men  in  the  boat  to  sound 
along  shore.  They  found  the  water  "  five  fathoms 
deep  within  bow -shot  of  the  shore ;"  went  on  the 
land  and  discovered  "  goodly  grapes  and  rose- 
trees,"  which  they  brought  on  board  the  ship. 
He  now  moved  toward  the  shore,  and  anchored 
near  the  north  end  of  the  headland.  Here  he 
heard  the  voices  of  men  calling  to  him  from  the 
shore ;  and,  thinking  they  might  be  the  cries  of  some 
poor  sailors  who  had  been  left  there,  he  immediate- 
ly sent  a  part  of  the  crew  in  the  boat  to  the  land. 
Upon  landing,  they  found  that  the  voices  were 
those  of  the  Indians,  who  were  greatly  rejoiced  to 
see  thera.  They  returned,  fringing  one  of  these 
Indians  aboard  with  them.  After  giving  him  some- 
thing to  eat,  and  making  him  a  present  of  a  few 
glass  buttons,  Hudson  sent  him  ashore  again  in 
the  boat.  When  he  reached  the  land,  he  gave 
every  sign  of  joy,  dancing,  and  leaping,  and 
throwing  up  his  hands.  These  Indians  were 
great  smokers :  they  had  abundance  of  green 
tobacco  and  pipes,  "  the  bowls  of  which  were 
made  of  earth,  and  the  stems  of  red  copper." 

After  striving  to  pass  west  of  this  headland, 
and  move  into  the  bay,  which  the  w^ind  prevent- 


HENRY   HUDSON.  53 

ed — he  steered  south-east,  and  the  next  day  feL 
in  with  the  southern  point  of  Cape  Cod.  He 
knew  this  to  be  the  headland  which  Bartholomew 
Gosnold  had  discovered  in  the  year  1602,  seven 
years  "before.  He  passed  Nantucket  and  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  and  kept  his  course  still  south, 
until  the  18th  of  August,  when  he  found  himself 
at  the  entrance  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Here  he 
was  near  the  mouth  of  "  the  King's  River*  in  Vir- 
ginia," upon  which  many  of  his  countrymen 
were  settled ;  and  among  these  countrymen  was 
his  early  friend  Captain  John  Smith. 

Two  years  before  this,  the  first  Enghsh  settle- 
ment had  been  made  in  America>  In  the  year 
1607,  two  ships  and  a  bark  under  the  command 
of  Christopher  Newport,  bringing  one  hundred 
and  five  persons,  had  passed  up  the  James  River. 
Among  these  men  W'ere  John  Smith,  Gosnold, 
Wingfield,  and  Ratcliffe,  the  leaders  of  the  new 
enterprise;  and  after  hard  sufferings  and  some 
hair-breadth  escapes,  they  had  succeeded  in  set- 
tling a  colony  at  Jamestown.  It  would  have 
been  delightful  to  Hudson  to  have  passed  up 
that  river,  and  seen  his  countrymen,  and  particu- 
larly an  old  friend  in  the  wild  forests  of  America. 

*  The  James  River,  named  in  honor  of  King  James,  is  here 
alluded  to. 

5* 


64  HENRY  HUDSON. 

He  would  have  heard  from  that  friend  many  a 
story  of  matchless  adventure,  how  he  had  lived 
through  the  treachery  of  the  Indian  King  Powha- 
tan, and  been  saved  by  the  noble  friendship  of 
the  Princess  Pocahontas.  But  the  wind  was 
blowing  a  gale ;  and  besides  this,  he  felt  himself 
bound  to  serve  the  main  purpose  of  his  employ- 
ers, and  consequently  passed  on. 

He  proceeded  south  still,  until  he  reached  the 
thirty-fifth  degree  of  latitude,  and  then  changed 
his  course  to  the  north.  We  are  not  told  in  the 
Journal  of  this  voyage,  what  induced  Hudson  to 
change  his  course,  but  we  can  readily  understand 
the  cause.  He  had  gone  far  enough  south  to 
learn  that  his  friend  Smith  was  mistaken  about 
his  passage  into  the  South  Pacific  Ocean ;  and 
his  desire  was  now  to  waste  no  more  time  in  this 
fruitless  search,  but  to  make  some  discovery 
which  might  prove  profitable  to  his  employers. 

Retracing  his  course,  he  found  himself  occa- 
sionally in  shallow  water  as  he  passed  the  shores 
of  Maryland,  and  on  the  28th,  discovered  the 
great  bay,  since  known  as  Delaware  Bay.  He 
examined  here  the  soundings,  currents,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  land,  but  did  not  go  ashore. 
For  nearly  a  week  he  now  coasted  northward, 
**  passing  along  a  low  marshy  coast,  skirted  with 


HENRY  HUDSON.  55 

broken  islands,"  when  on  the  2d  of  September, 
he  spied  the  highlands  of  Neversink.  The  sight 
pleased  him  greatly,  for  he  says,  "  it  is  a  very 
good  land  to  fall  in  with,  and  a  pleasant  land  to 
see."  On  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  weather 
proved  dark  and  misty,  but  Hudson,  having  pas- 
sed Long  Branch,  sent  his  boat  up  to  sound. 
The  men  returning  with  a  favorable  report,  in 
the  afternoon  he  brought  the  Half  Moon  within 
Sandy  Hook,  and  cast  anchor  in  five  fathoms  of 
water.  The  next  morning,  seeing  that  there 
w^as  "  good  anchorage  and  a  safe  harbor,"  he 
passed  farther  up  and  anchored  within  Sandy 
Hook  Bay,  at  the  distance  of  two  cable  lengths 
from  the  shore. 

Having  marked  great  quantities  of  fish  ("  sal- 
mon, mullet,  and  rays")  in  the  water,  he  now 
sent  his  men  ashore  with  a  net.  It  is  said  that 
they  first  landed  on  Coney  Island,  (now  a  part 
of  Kings  County  in  this  State.)  They  found  the 
soil  to  be  mostly  white  sand,  and  on  the  island 
w^ere  plum-trees  loaded  with  fruit,  and  embower- 
ed with  grape-vines;  wMe  snipes  and  other 
birds  were  floating  over  the  shore.  The  fishing 
too,  proved  good,  for  they  took  "  ten  mullets  a 
foot  and  a  half  long  apiece,  and  a  ray  as  great 
as  four  men  could  haul  into  the  ship  " 


66  HENRY   HUDSON. 

While  the  ship  lay  at  anchor,  Indians  from 
the  Jersey  shore  came  on  board,  and  seemed 
greatly  delighted  to  see  their  new  visiters.  They 
Avere  dressed  in  deer-skins,  well  cured,  which 
hung  loosely  over  their  shoulders,  and  had 
copper  ornaments  and  pipes.  They  seemed  to 
have  an  abundance  of  food,  for  their  land  yield- 
ed a  fine  harvest  of  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  from 
which  they  made  good  bread ;  but  they  had 
come,  bringing  green  tobacco,  which  they  Avished 
to  exchange  for  beads,  knives,  and  other  trinkets. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  a  gale  sprang  up, 
and  the  ship  was  driven  ashore.  Fortunately, 
she  was  not  injured, "  the  bottom  being  soft  sand 
and  oozy,"  and  when  the  flood  tide  returned  in 
the  morning,  she  was  easily  got  off.  The  boat 
was  now  lowered,  and  the  men  were  sent  to  sound 
the  bay.  The  shores  were  lined  with  men,  wo- 
men, and  children,  attracted  by  curiosity,  and 
the  boat's  men  immediately  went  to  the  land,  where 
they  were  treated  with  great  kindness.  It  was  the 
Jersey  shore  which  they  now  reached,  and  the 
kindness  of  the  natives  was  such,  that  they  went 
unmolested  far  back  into  the  woods  of  what  is 
now  known  as  Monmouth  County.  In  this  ram- 
ble, they  weie  particularly  pleased  with  the 
beautiful  oaks  of  the  country.     The  natives  fol- 


HENRY    HUDSON.  57 

lowed  them  with  their  kindness,  giving  them  pre- 
sents of  green  tobacco  and  dried  currants.  They 
observed  that  some  of  these  natives  were  dressed 
more  richly  than  those  seen  before.  These  had 
ornaments  of  copper  around  the  neck,  and  wore 
mantles  made  of  fine  furs  or  feathers.  Notwith- 
standing all  the  kindness  of  these  Indians,  like 
the  poor  natives  at  Penobscot,  they  were  still 
"  suspected,  though  friendly." 

Hudson,  in  making  his  observations,  had  dis- 
covered, as  he  thought,  that  the  bay  in  which  he 
lay,  seemed  to  be  the  entrance  to  a  large  river, 
four  leagues  distant ;  and  the  boat  having  re- 
turned, he  now  sent  five  men  in  her  to  make 
soundings  in  that  direction.  What  he  saw  was 
probably  the  strait  between  Long  and  Staten 
Islands,  now  known  as  the  Narrows.  They  pas- 
sed through  the  Narrows,  sounding  as  they  went, 
and  discovered  the  hills  between  Staten  Island 
and  Bergen  Neck.  They  found  the  land  as  they 
passed,  covered  with  trees,  grass,  and  flowers,  the 
fragrance  of  which  was  delightful;  and  after 
going  six  miles  into  the  bay  of  New  York,  turn- 
ed back.  On  their  return  to  the  ship,  when  it 
was  nearly  dark,  they  were  attacked  by  two 
canoes,  containing  twenty-six  Indians.  It  was 
raining  hard,  and  their  match  was  extinguished, 


58  HENRY   HUDSON. 

SO  that  they  could  only  trust  to  their  oars  to 
make  their  escape.  Unfortunately,  one  of  the 
men  (John  Colman,  who  had  been  with  Hudson 
in  his  first  hard  voyage)  w^as  killed  by  an  arrow 
that  struck  him  in  the  neck,  and  two  others  were 
slightly  wounded.  It  was  now  very  dark,  and 
they  lost  their  way,  wandering  to  and  fro  all 
night,  unable  to  find  the  ship.  It  is  said  that  but 
for  the  darkness,  they  would  all  have  been  mur- 
dered, but  this  I  can  hardly  believe.  Notwith- 
standing this  attack,  I  do  not  think  the  Indians 
had  any  wicked  intentions  toward  these  men ; 
for  it  is  strange,  if  they  had,  that  they  did  not 
pursue  them,  and  at  least  take  the  wounded  men 
in  the  boat.  It  is  probable,  that  in  the  darkness, 
the  Indians  were  themselves  surprised  and  fright- 
ened at  meeting  the  boat ;  shot  at  her,  and  moved 
away  as  fast  as  possible.  The  next  day  the 
boat  returned,  bringing  the  dead  body  of  Col- 
man. Hudson  ordered  it  to  be  taken  ashore  and 
buried  at  Sandy  Hook,  and  in  memory  of  the 
poor  fellow  who  had  met  so  sad  a  fate,  called 
the  place  Colman^s  Point. 

When  the  men  returned  from  this  sad  duty, 
the  boat  was  hoisted  in,  and  they  immediately 
commenced  erecting  bulwarks  on  the  sides  of 
the  ship  ;  and  when  night  came  on,  they  kept  a 


HENRY   HUDSON.  59 

strict  lookout,  expecting  an  attack  from  the  na- 
tives. But  their  preparations  were  idle.  The 
natives  seem  not  even  to  have  thought  of  attack- 
ing them  ;  for  the  next  day,  some  of  them  again 
came  on  board  in  the  most  friendly  manner, 
bringing  Indian  corn  and  tobacco,  to  trade  with 
the  sailors.  They  did  not  even  seem  to  know 
that  any  thing  had  happened. 

The  next  day  after,  however,  matters  did  look 
little  serious,  when  two  large  canoes  came  off 
to  the  ship,  the  one  filled  with  men  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows,  the  other  under  the  pretence 
of  trading  with  them.  Hudson  now  would  only 
allow  two  of  them  to  come  on  board  ;  these  he 
kept,  and  dressed  them  up  in  red  coats.  All  the 
rest  returned  to  the  shore,  when  presently  an- 
other canoe  approached,  bringing  only  two  men. 
He  thought  now  it  was  best  to  take  every  pre- 
caution ;  so  he  took  one  of  these  men,  intendino-, 

'  to" 

probably,  to  keep  him  with  the  others  as  hostages 
for  the  good  behavior  of  their  countrymen.  He 
had  scarcely  taken  this  last  one,  however,  when 
he  jumped  up,  leaped  overboard,  and  swam  to 
the  shore.  Hudson  now  weighed  anchor,  and 
moved  oif  into  the  channel  of  the  Narrows  for 
the  night.  In  the  morning,  he  went  over  "  to- 
wards the  east  sand-bank,  found  it  shallow,  and 


60  HEXRY    HUDSON. 

again  anchored."  The  day  after,  (it  being  the 
11th  of  September,)  having  spent  a  week  in 
exploring  south  of  the  Narrows,  he  passed 
through  them  into  the  Bay  of  New  York,  and 
finding  it  "  an  excellent  harbor  for  all  winds," 
once  more  cast  anchor.  Here  he  remained  until 
the  next  day:  the  people  of  the  countiy  (as  he 
says)  again  coming  to  see  him,  "  making  great 
show  of  love,  giving  tobacco  and  Indian  wheat, 
but  we  could  not  trust  them." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Indian  tradition  of  the  first  landing  of  white 
men  in  the  State  of  Xew  York,  as  given  by  the 
Indians  themselves,  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Heckewel- 
der,  a  Moravian  Missionary  among  the  Indians 
of  Pennsylvania. 

It  was  the  12th  of  September,  and  Hudson 
was  ready  to  move  up  the  great  river  which 
opened  before  him.  Before  we  follow  him  in  his 
course,  however,  there  is  an  Indian  tradition  as 
regards  "  his  first  landing,"  which  I  wish  to  lay 
before  you.  Some  say  his  first  landing  was  upon 
Coney  Island,  others  at  Sandy  Hook,  others  on 
the  Jersey  shore,  while  some  declare  it  was  on 
Manhattan  Island,  and  others  again  say  at  Alba- 
ny. It  is  impossible  perhaps,  to  say  where  it 
was,  and  as  far  as  the  story  is  concerned  it  mat- 
ters but  little,  for  the  tradition  is  the  same,  let  the 
landing  have  been  where  it  may. 

This  tradition  is  well  authenticated,  having 
6 


62  HENRY  HUDSON. 

been  originally  given  by  the  Indians  themselves 
to  tne  Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  for  many  years  a 
Moravian  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  Pennsyl- 
vania.    It  runs  as  follows : — 

"  A  long  time  ago,  when  there  was  no  such 
thing  known  to  the  Indians  as  people  with  a 
white  skin,  some  Indians  who  had  been  out  a 
fishing,  and  where  the  sea  widens,  espied  at  a 
great  distance,  something  remarkably  large,  swim- 
ming or  floating  on  the  water,  and  such  as  they 
had  never  seen  before.  They  immediately  re- 
turning to  the  shore,  told  their  countrymen  of 
what  they  had  seen,  and  pressed  them  to  go  out 
with  them,  and  discern  what  it  might  be.  These 
together  hurried  out,  and  saw  to  their  great  sur- 
prise the  phenomenon,  but  could  not  agree  what 
it  might  be,  some  concluding  it  to  be  an  uncom- 
monly large  fish  or  other  animal,  while  others 
were  of  opinion  it  must  be  some  very  large 
house.  It  was  at  length  agreed  among  them, 
that  as  this  phenomenon  moved  toward  the  land, 
whether  it  w^as  an  animal  or  not,  it  would  be 
well  to  inform  all  the  Indians  of  w^hat  they  had 
seen,  and  put  them  on  their  guard.  Accordingly 
they  sent  runners  to  carry  the  news  to  their  scat- 
tered chiefs,  that  they  might  send  off  in  every 
direction  for  the  warriors  to  come  in.     These 


HENRY   HUDSON.  63 

now  came  in  numbers,  and  seeing  the  strange 
appearance,  and  that  it  was  actually  moving 
forward,  concluded  that  it  was  a  large  canoe 
or  house,  in  which  the  Great  Manitto*  himself 
was,  and  that  he  probably  was  coming  to  visit 
them.  By  this  time  the  chiefs  of  the  different 
tribes  were  assembled  on  York  Island,  and  were 
counselling  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
should  receive  the  Manitto  on  his  arrival.  They 
now  provided  plenty  of  meat  for  a  sacrifice ;  the 
women  were  required  to  prepare  the  best  of 
victuals  j  their  idols  or  images  were  examined 
and  put  in  order ;  and  a  grand  dance  was  sup- 
posed not  only  to  be  an  agreeable  entertainment 
for  the  Manitto,  but  might,  with  the  addition  of 
a  sacrifice,  contribute  toward  appeasing  him  in 
case  he  was  angry.  The  conjurers  were  also 
set  to  work  to  determine  what  the  meaning  of 
this  phenomenon  was,  and  what  the  result  would 
be.  To  these,  and  to  the  chiefs  and  wise  men  of 
the  nation,  men,  women,  and  children  were  look- 
ing up  for  advice  and  protection.  Being  at  a 
loss  what  to  do,  between  hope  and  fear,  and  in 
confusion,  a  dance  commenced.  In  the  mean 
time,  fresh  runners  arrived,  declaring  it  to  be  a 

•  Their  name  for  the  Supreme  Being. 


64  HE>fRY   HTJDSON 

great  house  of  various  colors  that  was  coming, 
and  filled  with  living  creatures.  It  now  appeared 
certain  that  it  was  their  Manitto  coming,  bringing 
probably  some  new  kind  of  game.  But  other 
runners  now  came  in,  declaring  that  it  was  a 
house  of  various  colors  and  filled  with  people, 
but  that  the  people  were  of  a  different  color  from 
themselves  ;  that  they  were  also  dressed  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner  from  them,  and  that  one  in  partic- 
ular appeared  altogether  red.  This  they  thought 
must  be  the  Manitto  himself  They  were  now 
lost  in  admiration.  Presently  they  were  hailed 
from  the  vessel,  but  in  a  language  they  could 
not  understand,  and  were  able  to  answer  only  by 
a  yell.  Many  were  now  for  running  into  the 
woods,  while  others  pressed  them  to  stay,  in  or- 
der not  to  offend  their  visiters,  who  could  find 
them  out  and  might  easily  destroy  them.  The 
house  (or  large  canoe)  stopped,  and  a  smaller  ca- 
noe now  came  ashore,  bringing  the  red  man  and 
some  others  in  it.  Some  stayed  by  this  canoe  to 
guard  it.  The  chiefs  and  wise  men  formed  a 
circle,  into  which  the  red  clothed  man  and  two 
others  approached.  He  saluted  them  with  a 
fi-iendly  countenance,  and  they  returned  the  sa- 
lute after  their  manner.  They  were  amazed  at 
the  color  of  their  skin  and  their  dress,  particu- 


HENRY   HUDSON.  65 

larly  at  the  red  man,  whose  clothes  gUttered* 
with  something  they  could  not  account  for. 
He  must  be  the  great  Manitto,  they  thought,  but 
then  why  should  he  have  a  white  skin  ?  A  large 
elegant  Hockhackf  was  brought  forward  by 
one  of  the  Manitto^s  servants,  and  something 
poured  from  it  into  a  small  cup  or  glass,  and 
handed  to  the  Manitto.  He  drank  it,  had  the 
cup  refilled,  and  had  it  handed  to  the  chief  next 
to  him  for  him  to  drink.  The  chief  took  it, 
smelt  it,  and  passed  it  to  the  next,  who  did  the 
same.  The  cup  passed  in  this  way  round  the 
circle,  untasted,  and  was  about  to  be  returned  to 
the  red  clothed  man,  when  one  of  their  number, 
a  spirited  man  and  a  great  warrior,  jumped  up, 
and  harangued  the  multitude  on  the  impropriety 
of  returning  the  cup  unemptied.  '  It  was  handed 
to  them,'  he  said,  '  by  the  Manitto  to  drink  out 
of  as  he  had  done ;  that  to  follow  his  example 
would  please  him,  but  to  return  what  he  had 
given  them  might  provoke  him  and  cause  him 
to  destroy  them.  And  that  since  he  believed  it  to 
be  for  the  good  of  the  nation  that  the  contents 
offered  them  should  be  drunk,  if  no  one  else  was 
willing  to  drink,  he  would  try  it,  let  the  conse- 

*  This  was  probably  the  lace  and  buttons, 
f  Meaning  gourd,  or  bottle. 

6* 


6b  HENRY   HUDSON. 

quence  be  what  it  would,  for  it  was  better  fot 
one  man  to  die,  than  that  a  whole  nation  should 
be  destroyed.  He  then  took  the  glass,  smelt  it, 
addressed  them,  again,  and  bidding  them  all  fare- 
well, drank  it.  All  eyes  were  now  fixed  upon 
him,  to  see  what  effect  this  w^ould  have  upon  him. 
He  soon  began  to  stagger,  and  the  w^omen  cried, 
supposing  that  he  had  fits.  Presently  he  rolled 
on  the  ground,  and  they  all  began  to  bemoan 
him,  supposing  him  to  be  dying.  Then  he  fell 
asleep,  and  they  thought  now  that  he  was  dead, 
but  presently  they  saw  that  he  was  still  breath- 
ing. In  a  little  time  he  awoke,  jumped  up,  and 
declared  that  he  never  felt  himself  before  so  hap- 
py, as  after  he  had  drunk  the  cup.  He  asked 
for  more,  which  was  given  to  him,  and  the  whole 
assembly  soon  joined  him,  and  all  became  intox- 
icated.' 

"  ^Yhile  the  intoxication  lasted,  the  white  men 
kept  themselves  in  their  vessel,  and  when  it  was 
over,  the  man  with  the  red  clothes  again  return- 
ed to  them,  bringing  them  presents  of  beads, 
axes,  hoes,  and  stockings.  They  soon  now  be- 
came familiar,  and  talked  by  making  signs.  The 
whites  made  them  understand  that  they  should 
now  return  home,  but  the  next  year  they  should 
visit  them  again  with  presents,  and  stay  with 


HENRY  HUDSON.  67 

them  a  while.  But  as  they  could  not  live  witlj- 
out  eating,  they  should  then  want  a  little  land 
to  sow  seeds,  in  order  to  raise  herbs  to  put  into 
their  broth.  Accordingly  a  vessel  arrived  the 
next  season,*  when  they  were  much  rejoiced  to 
see  each  other  —  but  the  white  men  laughed 
at  them  when  they  saw  the  axes  and  hoes  hang- 
ing to  their  breasts  as  ornaments,  and  the  stock- 
ings used  for  tobacco  pouches.  The  whites  now 
put  handles  or  helves  in  the  former,  and  cut  down 
trees  and  dug  the  ground  before  their  eyes,  and 
showed  them  the  use  of  the  stockings.  Then  all 
the  Indians  laughed,  to  think  that  they  had  been 
ignorant  of  the  use  of  these  things  so  long,  and 
had  carried  these  heavy  articles  hung  around 
their  necks.  They  took  every  white  man  they 
saw  for  a  Manitto,  yet  inferior  to  the  Supreme 
Manitto ;  to  wit,  to  the  one  who  wore  the  shin- 
ing red  clothes.  They  now  became  more  famil- 
iar, and  the  whites  now  reminded  them  that  they 
w^anted  some  land  ;  and  asked  if  they  might  have 
as  much  land  as  the  hide  of  a  bullock  spread 
before  them  would  cover  (or  encompass.)  Their 
request  was  readily  granted.      The  white  men 

*  It  will  be  remembered  that  another  ship  was  sent  out 
by  the  Dutch  the  next  year,  after  the  discovery  of  Henry 
Hudson. 


6e  HENRY   HUDSON. 

tlien  took  a  knife,  and  beginning  at  one  place  on 
the  hide,  cut  it  up  into  a  rope  not  thicker  than 
the  finger  of  a  Uttle  chikl,  so  that  by  the  time 
this  hide  was  cut  up,  there  was  a  great  heap. 
They  then  took  the  rope  and  drew  it  gently  along 
(to  keep  it  from  breaking)  in  a  circular  form, 
and  took  in  a  large  piece  of  ground.  The  In- 
dians were  surprised  at  the  superior  wit  of  the 
whites,  but  did  not  wish  to  contend  with  them 
about  a  little  land,  as  they  had  enough.  They 
lived  contentedly  together  for  a  long  time  :  the 
w^iites  from  time  to  time  asking  for  more  land, 
W'hich  was  readily  granted  to  them.  And  thus 
they  gradually  went  higher  and  higher  up  the 
Mahicannituck  River*  until  they  began  to  be- 
lieve they  would  soon  w^ant  all  their  country, 
which  proved  at  last  to  bethe  case."! 

This  tradition  is  remarkably  confirmed  by  a 
Dutch  historian,!  who  wrote  his  history  only 
forty-three  years  after  the  discovery  of  Henry 
Hudson.     He  says,  "  that  the  Indians  or  natives 

*  One  of  the  Indian  names  for  the  Hudson. 

j-  This  tradition  will  be  found  in  Yates  and  Moulton's  His- 
tory of  New  York— in  the  first  volume  of  Hist,  and  Lit.  Trans- 
actions of  the  American  Philosophical  Society— and  again  in 
the  New  York  Historical  Collection,  vol.i.,  New  Series. 

t  Adrian  Van  der  Donck,  in  his  description  of  the  New 
N^etherlands. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  69 

of  the  land,  many  of  whom  are  still  living,  aiid 
with  whom  I  have  conversed,  declare  freely  that 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Lowland  ship,  the  Half 
Moon,  in  tie  year  1609,  they,  the  natives,  did 
not  know  that  there  were  any  other  people  in 
the  world,  than  those  who  were  like  themselves, 
much  less,  any  people  who  differed  so  much  in 
appearance  from  them  as  we  did.  When  some 
oif  them  first  saw  our  ship  approaching  at  a  dis- 
tance, they  did  not  know  what  to  think  about 
her,  but  stood  in  deep  and  solemn  amazement, 
wondering  whether  it  were  a  ghost  or  apparition, 
cominor  down  from  heaven,  or  from  hell.  Others 
of  them  supposed  her  to  be  a  strange  fish  or  sea 
monster.  When  they  discovered  men  on  board, 
they  supposed  them  to  be  more  like  devils  than 
human  beings.  Thus  they  differed  about  the 
ship  and  men.  A  strange  report  was  spread 
about  the  country  concerning  the  ship  and  visit, 
which  created  great  astonishment  and  surprise 
among  the  Indians." 

There  is  another  story  told  to  the  same  pur- 
pose in  a  history  of  these  times  written  only 
forty-one  years  after  Hudson's  discovery.  "  In 
1609,  (as  the  story  reads,)  the  privileged  East 
India  Company,  by  the  ship  the  Half  Moon,  the 
Captain  whereof  was  Henxick  Hutson,  discover- 


70  HENRY   HUDSON. 

ed  first  the  country  which  our  people  call  New 
Netherlands :  insomuch  that  even  now  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  remember  it,  and  witness, 
that  when  the  Dutch  ships  came  hither  first  and 
were  seen  by  them,  they  did  not  know  whether 
they  came  from  heaven  or  were  devils.  Others 
thought  them  to  be  sea  monsters  or  fishes.*  They 
knew  before  nothing  of  other  sort  of  men  :  a 
strange  tale  thereof  run  through  their  country 
now."t 

It  is  said  that  the  tribe  of  Delaware  Indians, 
even  to  this  day,  call  New  York  Mannahatta- 
nink,  meaning  thereby,  the  Island  or  place  of 
general  intoxication. % 

•  It  is  remarked  by  Yates  and  Moulton  in  their  history,  that 
the  same  fright  seized  the  minds  of  the  Indians  bordering  ou 
Detroit  river,  at  the  time  the  Lake  Erie  steamboat  "  Walk-in 
the- Water"  made  her  first  appearance  in  that  river,  advancing 
against  wind  and  tide,  and  sending  forth  volumes  of  flame 
and  smoke. 

t  MS.  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  cited  in  Yates 
and  Moulton's  History  of  New  York,  Part  I.  page  257. 

X  "  The  Mahicanni  or  Mohicans  call  it  by  the  same  name 
as  the  Delawares,  but  think  the  name  was  given  in  consequence 
of  a  kind  of  wood  which  grew  there,  of  which  the  Indians 
used  to  make  their  bows  and  arrows. 

"  The  name  the  Monseys  have  for  New  York  is  Laapha- 
wachking,  meaning  the  place  of  stringing  wampum  heads. 
They  say  this  name  was  given  in  consequence  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  beads  among  them  by  Europeans,  and  that  after  the 
European  vessel  returned,  wherever  one  looked,  the  Indians 
were  seen  stringing  the  beads  and  wampum  that  the  whites 
gave  them." — Yates  and  Moulton. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Hudson  explores  the  river  since  called  by  Ms 
name — Escape  of  the  two  Indians — Strange 
experiment  of  Hudson  to  learn  the  treachery 
of  the  natives — The  Half  Moon  reaches  as  far  as 
the  present  site  (f  Albany — The  boat  ascends 
to  Waterford — Hudson  returns  down  the  river 
— Battle  with  the  natives  at  the  head  of  Man- 
hattan Island — Sails  from  the  bay^  and 
reaches  England^  after  an  absence  of  seven 
months  from  Europe. 

We  left  Hudson  in  his  little  ship  the  Half 
Moon,  resting  quietly  upon  the  waters  of  New 
York  Bay,  and  we  will  now  trace  him  in  his 
course  up  the  beautiful  stream  which  since  bears 
his  name.  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of 
the  great  navigator  as  he  looked  upon  the  waters 
of  that  stream  as  they  came  rolling  to  the  sea  !  It 
was  certain  that  he  had  discovered  a  new  and 


72  HENRY    HUDSON. 

unknown  region  which  might  in  some  degree 
repay  his  employers ;  and  then,  who  could 
tell  but  that  the  river  before  him,  coming  far 
from  the  north,  might  prove  the  long  desired 
passage  to  the  gems  and  spices  of  the  East 
Indies. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  while  he  was 
still  at  his  anchorage,  twenty-eight  canoes,  filled 
with  men,  women,  and  children,  came  off  to  see 
him,  bringing  oysters  and  clams  to  trade  for  tri- 
fles. These  Indians  had  "  great  tobacco  pipes  of 
yellow  copper,  and  pots  of  earth  to  dress  their 
meat  in."  Hudson's  men  seem,  as  usual,  to  have 
been  suspicious  of  them,  and  though  they  traded 
with  them,  none  of  them  were  allowed  to  come 
on  board. 

About  noon,  with  a  heart  full  of  hope,  he 
weighed  anchor,  and  moved  into  the  river.  The 
wind  was  not  fair ;  so  that  he  made  only  two 
leagues,  and  again  anchored  for  the  night.  The 
place  off  which  he  lay  is  supposed  to  have  been 
what  is  now  JManhattanville.  The  next  day,  the 
wind  being  ahead,  he  managed,  by  the  help  of 
the  flood  tide,  to  pass  up  only  eleven  miles  high- 
er. This  brought  him  to  what  is  now  known  as 
Yonkers,  and  again  he  cast  anchor.  In  the  course 
of  this  day,  he  was  again  visited  by  Indians, 


HENRY   HUDSON.  73 

bringing  provisions,  and  they  seemed  very  friend- 
ly 'j  but:  his  crew  suspected  these  also,  and  none 
of  them  came  on  board  the  ship. 

The  day  following  the  weather  was  fair,  and 
a  fine  breeze  springing  up  from  the  south-east, 
he  passed  up  through  Tappan  and  Haverstraw 
bays,  "  the  river"  (as  the  journal  says)  "  being 
a  mile  wide,  and  anchored  at  night  about  thir- 
ty-six miles  higher,  in  a  region  where  the  land 
was  very  high  and  mountainous."  He  was  now 
evidently  in  the  neighborhood  of  "  the  High- 
lands," and  his  anchorage  was  probably  near 
West  Point 

Hudson  and  his  men  seem  to  have  been  struck 
with  the  wild  and  beautiful  appearance  of  the 
country :  and  strange  must  have  been  his  feel- 
ings, when  in  his  little  "  yacht,"  moored  beneath 
the  Highlands,  the  shadows  of  night  fell  over 
him.  He  had  braved  the  tempests  of  the  north, 
and  seen  the  monsters  of  the  ocean,  but  all  now 
was  a  new  world  around  him.  A  wild  and  beau- 
tiful w^ilderness  hung  over  him.  Perhaps  in 
the  distance  he  might  see  the  camp  fires  of 
stragghng  Indians:  then  he  might  hear  the 
screechings  of  the  owls,  and  the  scream  of  pan- 
thers in  the  wilderness  above  him,  or  perhaps 
7 


74  HENRY  HUDSON 

be  startled  by  the  strange  and  tremendous  roar 
of  the  "  Naked  Bear"  of  the  Indians.* 

*"  Yagesho,  or  Naked  Bear /^ — In  a  note  to  Yates  and  Moul- 
ton's  History  of  New  York,  there  is  a  singular  Indian  tradition 
of  a  remarkable  aninial  that  lived  in  the  northern  parts  of 
New  York  about  two  centuries  ago.  The  note  cites  the  man- 
uscript of  Mr.  Heckewelder  for  the  truth  of  it.  The  story,  as 
given  m  the  note,  is  the  following  :  — 

"  The  Yagesho  was  an  animal  much  superior  to  the  largest 
hear,  remarkably  long  bodied,  broad  down  by  its  shoulders, 
but  thin  or  narrow  just  at  its  hind  legs,  (or  where  the  body  ter- 
minated.) It  had  a  large  head  and  fearful  look.  Its  legs 
were  short  and  thick.  Its  paws  (to  the  toes  of  which  were 
nails  or  claws,  nearly  as  long  as  an  Indian^s  finger)  spread 
very  wide.  It  was  almost  bare  of  hair,  except  the  head  and 
on  the  hinder  parts  of  its  legs,  in  which  places  the  hair 
was  very  long.  For  this  reason  the  Indians  gave  it  the  name  of 
'  Naked  Bear: 

"  Several  of  these  animals  had  bee«  destroyed  by  the  In- 
dians, but  the  one  of  which  the  following  account  is  given  had 
escaped  them,  and  for  years  had  from  time  to  lime  destroyed 
many  Indians,  particularly  women  and  children,  when  they 
were  out  in  the  avoous  gathering  nuts,  digging  roots,  or  at 
work  in  the  field.  Hunters,  when  overtaken  by  this  animal, 
bad  no  way  of  escaping,  except  when  a  river  or  lake  was  at 
hand,  by  plunging  into  the  stream  and  swimming  out  or  d.o\vn 
the  stream  to  a  great  distance.  When  this  was  the  case,  and 
the  beast  was  not  able  to  pursue  farther,  then  he  would  setup 
such  a  roaring  noise,  that  every  Indian  hearing  it  would  trem- 
ble. The  animal  preyed  on  every  beast  it  could  lay  hold  of. 
It  would  catch  and  kill  the  largest  bears  and  devour  them. 
While  bears  were  plenty,  the  Indians  had  not  so  much  to  dread 
from  him,  but  vk^hen  this  was  not  the  case,  it  would  run 
abo!at  the  woods,  searching  for  the  track  or  scent  of  hunters, 
and  foUow  them  uji.    The  women  were  so  afraid  of  going  out 


HENRY  HUDSON. 


75 


The  next  morning  a  mist  hung  over  the  riv- 
er and  mountains  until  sunrise,  when  it  cleared 
up  with  a  fair  wind.  Just  as  he  was  weighing 
anchor,  a  circumstance  happened,  which  after- 
ward gave  him  trouble.  The  two  Indians  whom 
he  held  as  hostages  made  their  escape  through 

to  work,  that  the  men  assemhled  to  consider  on  some  plan  for 
killing  him.     At  or  near  a  lake  where  the  water  flowed  two 
ways,  or  has  two  different  outlets,  one  on  the  northerly  and 
the  other  on  the  southerly  end,  this  beast  had  his  residence,  of 
which  the  Indians  were  well  informed.  A  resolute  party,  well 
provided  with  bows,  arrows,  and  spears,  made  toward  the  lake. 
On  a  high  perpendicular   rock  they  stationed  themselves, 
climbing  up  this  rock  by  means  of  Indian  ladders,  and  then 
drawing  these  after  them.    After  being  well  fixed,  and  having 
taken  up  a  number  of  stones,  they  began  to  imitate  the  voices 
and  cries  of  the  various  beasts  of  the  wood,  and  even  that  of 
children,  in  order  to  decoy  him  thither.      Having  spent  some 
days  without  success,  a  party  took  a  stroll  to  some  distance 
from  the  rock.    Before  they  had  reached  the  rock  again,  this 
beast  had  got  the  scent  of  them,  and  was  in  full  pursuit  of 
them,  yet  they  reached  the  rock  before  he  arrived.  When  he 
came  to  the  rock  he  was  in  great  anger,  sprang  against  it  with 
his  mouth  wide  open,  grinning  and  seizing  the  rock  as  if  he 
would  tear  it  to  pieces.     He  had  several  times  sprung  nearly 
up,    During  all  this  time,  numbers  of  arrows  and  stones  were 
discharged  at  him,  and  at  last  he  dropped  down  and  expired. 
His  head  being  cut  off,  it  was  carried  in  triumph  to  their  vil- 
lage or  settlement  on  the  North  River,  and  there  set  up  on  a 
pole  for  view:  and  the  report  spreading  among  the  neighbor- 
ing tribes,  numbers  came  to  view  the  same,  and  to  exalt  the 
Ticto/iriis  for  this  warlike  deed.    The  Mahicanni  claim  the 
honor  of  this  act." 


76  HENRY    HUDSON. 

the  porl-holes  of  the  ship  and  swam  to  the  shore, 
and  as  soon  as  the  ship  was  under  way,  they 
were  seen  standing  on  the  shore  making  loud  and 
angry  cries,  and  looking  at  them  "  with  scornful 
looks."  They  now^  moved  up  the  river, "  passing 
by  the  high  mountains,"  until,  having  sailed  fifty 
miles,  they  came  at  night  in  sight  of  "  other 
mountains  Avhich  lie  from  the  river  side."  Here 
they  found  (as  the  journal  says)  "  very  loving 
people  and  very  old  men,"  who  treated  them  very 
kindly.  Ha\ing  cast  anchor  here,  (which  w^as 
probably  near  what  is  now  Catskill  Landing,) 
Hudson  sent  the  boat  off,  and  the  men  caught 
large  quantities  of  fine  fish. 

It  was  here,  perhaps,  that  the  pleasant  inter- 
view happened  (of  which  w^e  read  in  an  old  his- 
tory of  the  times*)  between  Hudson  and  an  old 
chief  of  the  Indians.  The  story  is,  that  he  went 
on  shore  in  one  of  their  canoes  with  an  old  man, 
who  was  the  chief  of  forty  men  and  seventeen 
women.  These  he  saw  in  a  large  circular  house 
made  of  oak  bark.  In  the  house,  he  discovered 
a  large  quantity  of  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and 
beans  of  the  last  year's  grow^th,  and  near  the 
house,  for  the  purpose  of  drying,  there  lay  enough 
to  load  their  ship,  besides  what  was  growing 

♦De  Laet's  New  World. 


HENRY    HUDSON.  77 

in  the  fields.  Upon  his  entering  the  house,  two 
mats  were  immediately  spread  out  to  sit  upon, 
and  food  was  brought  forward  in  large  red  bowls 
made  of  wood.  In  the  mean  time,  two  men 
were  despatched  with  bows  and  arrows  in  search 
of  game.  Soon  after,  they  returned  with  a  pair 
of  pigeons;  then  they  killed  a  fat  dog,  and 
skinned  it  in  great  haste  for  their  guest,  with 
shells  which  they  had  got  out  of  the  water. 
After  the  feast,  they  supposed  that  Hudson  would 
remain  all  night  with  them.  But  upon  his  shew- 
ing signs  of  departure,  the  hospitable  old  man 
became  very  uneasy- — and  his  people,  supposing 
that  the  guest  might  be  leaving  because  he  was 
afraid  of  them,  took  all  their  arrows,  and  break- 
ing them  in  pieces,  cast  them  into  the  fire. 

The  quantities  of  fish  taken  the  evening  before, 
now  induced  Hudson  (the  next  morning  being 
warm  and  fair)  to  send  some  of  the  men  out 
upon  another  fishing  party.  This  time,  however, 
they  were  not  so  successful ;  for  the  natives  had 
been  there  all  night  in  their  canoes.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  Indians  flocked  on  board  the  ship, 
bringing  Indian  corn,  pumpkins,  and  tobacco. 
The  whole  day  was  consumed  in  trading  with 
these  friendly  people,  and  filling  the  water  casks 
with  fresh  water.  Towards  night,  he  again  set 
7* 


7S  HENRY  HUDSON. 

sail,  and  passing  some  six  miles  higher  up,  found 
the  water  shoal  and  cast  anchor.  He  was  now 
probably  near  the  spot  where  the  city  bearing 
his  name  has  since  grown  up.  The  weather  was 
warm,  and  Hudson  determined  to  take  advantage 
of  the  cool  hours  of  the  morning.  At  dawn, 
therefore,  the  next  day  he  weighed  anchor,  and 
ran  up  the  river  "  six  leagues  higher" — but  find- 
ing shoals  and  small  islands  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  he  once  more  stopped.  As  night  came  on, 
the  vessel  drifted  near  the  shore  and  grounded ; 
but  they  "  layed  out  there  small  anchor  and 
heaved  her  off  again."  In  a  little  time,  she  was 
aground  again  in  the  channel;  but  when  the 
flood-tide  rose  she  floated  ofl",  and  then  they  an- 
chored for  the  night.  This  anchorage,  it  is 
thought,  was  somewhere  near  Castleton. 

The  next  day  was  fair,  and  he  "  rode  still"  all 
day.  In  the  afternoon,  he  went  ashore  with 
" an  old  savage,  a  goveinor  of  the  country,  who 
carried  him  to  his  house,  and  made  him  good 
cheer."*  With  the  flood  tide,  about  noon  on 
the  following  day,  he  ran  up  "  two  leagues  above 
the  shoals,"  and  cast  anchor  ao:ain  in  eiffht 
fathoms  of  water.     The  natives  now^  came  on 

•  Possibly  it  was  here  that  the  scene  described  by  De  Laet 
pccurrei. 


HE^.^Y    HUDSON.  79 

board  in  crowds,  bringing  grapes,  pumpkins, 
beaver  and  other  skins,  for  which  the  sailors 
readily  gave  them  beads,  knives,  and  hatchets. 

Here  Hudson  seems  to  have  had  some  misgiv- 
ings as  to  the  depth  of  the  river  above  him.    He 
had  now  been  seven  or  eight  days  in  reaching 
this  point,  and  his  ship  had  been  aground,  and 
his  soundings  shallow,  more  than  once  in  the 
last  three  days.     The  next  day,  therefore,  (the 
morning  of  the  20th,)  he  sent  the  mate  with  four 
men  in  the  boat  to  explore  the  river  and  take 
soundings.     They  were  gone  nearly  the  whole 
day,   and  returned  with  the  report  that  "the 
channel  was  very  narrow  5"  that  two  leagues 
above,   they   found   only  two   fathoms'  w^ater, 
though  in  some  places  there  w^as  a  better  depth. 
The   next   morning   they  were    about   starting 
again,  to  explore  the  depth  and  breadth  of  the 
stream,  (for  the  wind  was  fair,  and  Hudson  was 
anxious  to  move  up  wdth  the  ship,)  but  were 
prevented  by  the  great  crowds  of  Indians  that 
came  flocking  on  board.     They  seem  again  to 
have  been  afraid  of  these  men,  and  unwilling  to 
leave  the  ship  while  they  were  there.     Finding 
that  he  was  not  likely  to  make  any  progress  on 
that  day,  Hudson  sent  the  carpenter  ashore  to 
make  a  new  foreyard  for  the  ship,  and  determin- 


80  HENRY    HUDSON. 

ed  with  his  men,  in  the  mean  time,  to  make  an 
experiment  with  some  of  these  Indians,  that  he 
might  learn  if  they  were  treacherous. 

This  experiment  was  a  strange  one ;  it  %va« 
neither  more  nor  less  than  intoxicating  some  of 
the  Indian  chiefs,  and  thereby  throwing  them 
"  oif  their  guard."  He  therefore  took  several  of 
them  down  into  the  cabin,  and  gave  them  plenty 
of  wine  and  brandy,  until  they  were  all  merry. 
The  poor  women  looked  innocently  on,  for  we 
are  told  particularly  of  the  wife  of  one  of  these 
merry  chiefs,  who  "  sate  in  the  cabin  as  modest- 
ly as  any  of  our  countrywomen  w'ould  do  in  a 
strange  place."  The  men  drank  plentifully,  and 
presently  one  of  them  became  so  drunk  that  he 
fell  asleep.  The  rest  w^ere  now  frightened,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  poisoned,  and  immediately  took 
to  their  canoes  and  pushed  for  the  shore.  They 
did  not,  however,  forget  the  poor  man  on  board  ; 
for  some  of  them  soon  returned,  bringing  long 
strings  of  beads,  which  they  hoped  the  whites 
would  accept,  and  release  their  poor  country- 
man. 

The  poor  Indian  slept  soundly  all  night,  and 
the  next  day,  when  his  countrymen  came  to  see 
him,  they  were  rejoiced  to  find  him  well.  They 
returned  to  the  shore,  and  about  three  o'clock 


HENRY   HUDSON. 


81 


came  again,  bringing  beads  and  tobacco,  which 
they  gave  to  Hudson.  One  of  them  made  a  long 
oration,  and  shewed  him  all  the  country  round 
about.  Anxious  still  farther  to  shew  him  their 
gratitude,  they  now  sent  one  of  their  number 
ashore,  who  presenly  returned  with  a  large  plat- 
ter of  venison,  dressed  in  their  own  style,  and 
placed  it  before  Hudson,  that  he  might  eat  with 
them.  After  this,  they  all "  made  him  reverence" 
and  departed. 

In  the  morning  before  all  this  scene  took  place, 
Hudson  had  again  started  the  mate  with  the  four 
men  to  sound  the  river.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night 
he  came  back  in  a  hard  shower  of  rain,  bringing 
a  bad  report  once  more.  He  had  ascended  the 
river  eight  or  nine  leagues,  and  found  only  seven 
feet  water  and  very  irregular  soundings. 

Disappointed  in  not  finding  this  the  passage  to 
the  East,  Hudson  was  cheered  by  the  reflection 
that  he  had  passed  up  this  noble  stream  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  discovered  a 
beautiful  and  fertile  region,  for  the  future  enter- 
prise of  his  employers.  He  now  prepared  for 
his  return.* 

*  How  far  did  Hudson  ascend  the  river  ?  The  Rev,  Dr.  Mil 
er  (in  his  lecture  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society  in 
<809)  thinks  that  the  ship  Half  Moon  reached  a  little  above 
.vhere  the  city  of  Hudson  now  stands,  while  the  boat  which 


8.2  HENRY    HUDSON. 

About  mid-day  on  the  23d,  he  commenced  re- 
tracing his  way,  and  went  down  the  river  only 
six  miles,  the  wind  being  ahead.  On  the  24th, 
he  ran  down  twenty-four  miles  farther  and 
anchored,  (it  is  supposed  between  Athens  and 
Hudson.)  Here  he  was  detained  four  days  by 
head  winds,  but  the  time  was  spent  pleasantly 
and  profitably  in  surveying  the  country.  Some 
of  the  men  went  on  shore  gathering  chestnuts, 
and  others  strolled  along  the  bank  making  their 
observations.  They  found  "  good  ground  for 
corn  and  other  garden  herbs,  with  good  store  of 
goodly  oaks  and  walnut-trees  and  chestnut-trees, 
yew-trees  and  trees  of  sweet  wood,  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  great  store  of  slate  for  houses  and 
other  good  stones."  While  they  lay  at  this  an- 
chorage, they  had  a  visit  from  one  who  consid- 
ered himself  at  least  an  old  friend.  On  the 
morning  of  the  26lh,  two  canoes  came  up  from 
the  place  where  they  met  "  the  loving  people," 

was  sent  to  explore  and  take  soundings,  went  as  far  as  the 
site  of  the  city  of  Albany.  Other  writers,  however,  disagree 
with  him.  After  examining  carefully  the  journal  of  this  voy- 
age, calculating  the  distances  run,  with  other  circumstances, 
and  especially  bearing  in  mind  that  the  small  yacht,  the  Half 
Moon,  was  probably  not  so  large  as  many  of  the  sloops  now 
sailing  on  the  North  River,  they  seem  fairly  to  conclude  that 
the  Half  Moon  went  nearly  as  high  as  the  spot  where  Albany 
now  stands,  while  tlie  boat  passed  up  as  far  as  Waterford. 


HENRY    HUDSON.  83 

(Catskill  Landing,)  and  in  one  of  them  was  the 
old  chief  who  had  been  made  drunk  above,  and 
given  so  much  alarm  to  his  countrymen.  The 
friendship  of  this  old  man  must  have  been  strong, 
for  he  seems  to  have  followed  them  even  to 
the  Catskill  mountains.  He  brought  now  anoth- 
er old  chief  with  him,  who  presented  strings  of 
beads  to  Hudson,  and  "  showed  him  all  the 
country  thereabout,  as  though  it  were  at  his 
command."  The  old  man's  wife  was  along, 
with  three  other  Indian  women.  Hudson  was  very 
kind  to  them,  invited  them  all  to  dine  with  him, 
after  dinner  gave  them  presents,  and  they  de- 
parted begging  that  he  would  visit  them  as 
he  passed  by,  for  the  place  where  they  lived 
was  only  two  leagues  off. 

The  wind  being  north  on  the  morning  of  the 
27th,  they  set  sail  and  moved  onward.  As  they 
passed  the  old  man's  home,  (Catskill  Landing,) 
he  came  off  again,  hoping  they  would  cast  anchor, 
and  go  ashore  and  eat  with  him.  The  wind  w^as 
too  fair  and  inviting  for  them  to  listen  to  his  in- 
vitation, and  he  left  them,  "  being  very  sorrowful 
for  their  departure."  Toward  night  they  reach- 
ed the  neighborhood  of  what  is  known  as  Red 
Hook  Landing,  and  there  had  fine  fishing.  For 
the  two  next,  days  his  progress  was  very  slow, 


84  HENKY   HUI»SON. 

for  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  we  are  told,  his 
ship  was  anchored  off  "  the  northernmost  of  the 
mountains,"  meaning,  I  suppose,  the  head  of  the 
highlands.  Here  again,  the  natives  came  on  board 
in  a  friendly  manner.  Detained  for  a  day  by  head 
winds,  he  observed  the  country  closely.  The 
description  of  the  land  near  them  is  very  minute, 
and  the  town  of  Newburgh  has  arisen,  perhaps, 
upon  the  very  spot  of  which  the  journal  speaks. 
'^  This"  (says  the  journal)  "  is  a  very  pleasant 
place  to  build  a  town  on.  The  road  is  very  near, 
and  very  good  for  all  winds,  save  an  east-north- 
east wind."  Here,  too,  they  were  struck  with 
the  strange  appearance  of  some  of  the  mountains. 
"  The  mountains  look  as  if  some  metal  or  min- 
eral were  in  them.  For  the  trees  that  grow  on 
them  were  all  blasted,  and  some  of  them  barren, 
with  few  or  no  trees  on  them.  The  people  brought 
a  stone  aboard  like  to  emery,  (a  stone  used  by 
glaziers  to  cut  glass ;)  it  would  cut  iron  or  Steele, 
yet  being  bruised  small  and  water  put  to  it,  it 
made  a  color  like  black  lead,  glistering.  It  is 
also  good  for  painters'  colors."  On  the  1st  of 
October,  with  a  fair  wind  he  sailed  throufjh  the 
highlands,  and  reached  as  far  as  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Stony  Point,  when  being  becalmed  he 
cast  anchor. 


HENRY    HUDSON.  85 

No  sooner  had  they  anchored,  than  the  natives 
were  crowding  aboard,  astonished  at,  and  ad- 
miring everything  they  saw.  They  came  trading 
with  skins,  but  these  could  not  procure  all  that 
they  desired.  One  poor  fellow,  therefore,  was 
prompted  to  steal.  He  swept  his  canoe  lightly 
under  the  stern,  crawled  up  the  rudder  into  the 
cabin  window,  and  stole  a  pillow  with  some 
articles  of  clothing.  The  mate  saw  him  as  he 
moved  off  with  his  canoe,  shot  at  him  and  killed 
him.  The  rest  now  fled  in  terror,  some  taking 
to  their  canoes,  and  some  plunging  into  the 
stream.  The  ship's  boat  was  manned  at  once, 
and  sent  to  secure  the  stolen  articles.  These  were 
easily  obtained  ;  but  as  the  boat  came  back,  one 
of  the  Indians  who  w^as  swunming  in  the  water 
took  hold  of  her,  endeavoring  to  overturn  her. 
The  cook  now  drew  a  sword,  and  with  one 
blow  cut  off  his  hand.  The  poor  creature  sank 
to  the  bottom — never  to  rise  again.  They  now 
returned  to  the  ship,  got  under  way  immediate- 
ly, and  passing  down  six  miles  farther,  anchored, 
near  dark,  off  the  mouth  of  Croton  river,  near 
the  entrance  into  Tappan  Sea. 

The  next  day,  with  a  fair  wind,  they  sailed 
twenty-one  miles,  which  must  have  brought 
them  somewhere  near  the  head  of  Manhattan 
8 


86  HENRY   HUDSON. 

Island.  Here  they  soon  found  themselves  in 
trouble.  The  two  Indians  who  had  escaped  from 
the  ship  on  their  way  up,  angry  and  indignant 
at  their  captivity,  had  roused  a  number  of  their 
countrymen  along  the  shores  of  the  river,  and 
they  were  now  assembled  near  this  point  to 
attack  Hudson  on  his  return.  A  canoe  ap- 
peared, in  which  was  one  of  those  who  had 
escaped,  and  many  others  armed  with  bow^s  and 
arrows.  Hudson  suspected  something  from  their 
appearance,  and  none  of  them  were  allowed  to 
come  on  board.  Presently,  two  canoes  filled 
with  armed  men  dropped  under  the  stern,  and 
the  attack  was  commenced  with  their  bows  and 
arrows  —  six  muskets  were  fired  from  the  ship, 
and  three  Indians  fell  dead.  The  Indians  on  the 
land,  marking  what  was  done,  were  no\v  exas- 
perated the  more :  they  moved  dow^n  to  the 
shore  in  a  solid  body,  ("  about  one  hundred  of 
them,")  and  made  ready  W'ith  their  bows  as  the 
ship  passed  slowly  on.  A  cannon  was  now  fired 
from  the  ship  upon  them,  and  two  more  Indians 
fell.  The  rest  fled  for  the  woods,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  nine  or  ten  desperate  men,  w^ho  were 
resolved  upon  revenge.  These  jumped  into  a 
canoe,  and  advanced  to  meet  the  ship.  The 
cannon  w^as  again  "discharged,  the  canoe  "  shot 


HENRY   HUDSON.  87 

through,"  and  another  naan  killed  —  at  the  same 
time  the  men  fired  again  with  their  muskets  and 
killed  three  or  four  men.  Thus  the  fight  ended  with 
the  loss  of  nine  Indians.  The  ship  now  moved 
on  her  way,  and  at  the  distance  of  "  two  leagues" 
dropped  anchor  under  the  shores  of  what  is  now 
known  as  Hoboken.  The  next  day  was  stormy ; 
but  the  morning  of  the  4th  dawned  upon  them 
with  a  fair  wind.  Hudson  again  weighed  an- 
chor, passed  through  the  bay,  and  with  all  sails 
set,  put  out  to  sea  once  more.* 

It  is  said,  that  Hudson's  crew  had  more  than 
once  been  dissatisfied  at  the  length  of  this  voy- 
age, and  at  one  time  even  threatened  an  open 
mutiny.  He  thought  it  best,  therefore,  to  learn 
of  them  now  what  they  desired  to  do ;  whether 
to  return  to  Holland,  or  steer  north  again.  One 
man  (the  mate)  was  in  favor  of  wintering  in 
Newfoundland,  and  seeking  a  passage  to  the 
East  by  Davis'  Straits.  But  Hudson,  perceiving 
the  mutinous  spirit  of  the  men,  opposed  this,  giv- 
ing as  his  reason,  the  privations  and  sorrows  of 
a  northern  winter  in  a  strange  land.  He  kept 
his  course,  therefore,  homeward,  and  on  the  7th 

•  The  author  has  followed  Hudson  very  minutely  in  his 
voyage  on  the  River,  because  he  supposed  this  part  of  his 
career  had  more  than  an  ordinary  interest  for  his  young  coua 
trymen  and  especially  those  of  the  State  of  New  York. 


»»  HENRY   HUDSON. 

of  November,  after  an  absence  of  little  more 
than  seven  months  from  Amsterdam,  he  arrived 
safely  at  Dartmouth  in  England.  The  crew, 
you  will  remember,  was  composed  partly  of 
English,  partly  of  Dutch  sailors;  and  .when  off 
the  coast  of  England,  the  English  (it  is  said) 
mutinied,  and  forced  him  to  put  into  an  English 
harbor.* 

The  Dutch  historians  declare  that  Hudsor^ 
was  not  allowed  to  go  over  to  Holland,  the 
English  king  being  jealous  of  their  bold  mari- 
time enterprises.  Be  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is, 
that  he  remembered  his  duty  to  his  employers. 
He  sent  them  at  once  the  journal  and  chart  of 
his  discoveries,  pointing  them  with  pride  to  what 
he  called  "  the  Great  River  of  the  Mountains, ^^f 
and  the  next  year  the  Dutch  were  reaping  the 
fruits  of  his  arduous  enterprise. 

The  journal  of  this  voyage  J  would  seem  to 
cast  two  stains  upon  the  fair  character  of  Henry 
Hudson  :  first,  that  of  cruelty  toward  the  Indians, 

*  Lambrechtsen. 

t  The  Indian  names  for  the  river  were  Cahohatatea, 
Mahackaneghtue,  and  sometimes  Shatemuck.  It  was  early 
called  by  the  Dutch  the  North  River,  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  Delaware  or  South  River. 

X  The  journal  of  this  voyage  in  1609,  written  by  Robert 
Juet,  will  be  found  in  Purchas  his  Pilgrims. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  89 

and  secondly,  that  of  want  of  principle  in  caus- 
ino;  the  oeneral  intoxication  on  the  river. 

As  regards  the  first,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Hudson  had  under  his  command  a  mutinous 
body  of  men,  and  he  may  have  found  it  impossi- 
ble to  control  their  refractory  and  ungovernable 
tempers.  He  seems  not  even  to  have  thought  of 
revenging  the  death  of  poor  Colman,  at  Sandy 
Hook  :  the  mate  was  the  man  who  shot  the  poor 
Indian  for  the  comparatively  small  crime  of 
stealing  the  pillow  and  clothing,  and  the  death 
of  the  nine  Indians  killed  at  the  head  of  Man- 
hattan Island,  may  be  said  to  have  been  caused 
in  a  war  of  self-defence. 

In  reference  to  the  second,  it  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for,  by  supposing  that  Hudson  was,  like 
his  men,  suspicious  and  alarmed,  and  therefore 
determined  to  learn  the  honesty  or  treachery 
of  the  Indians  by  any  means  whatsoever. 
8* 


CHAPTER  \1. 

Hudson  slarts  on  his  fourth  voyage^  having 
command  of  the  ship  Discovery,  in  tht  service 
once  more  of  the  London  Company — His  aim 
is  to  find  a  JS^orth-West  Passage  to  India — 
Reaches  Iceland,  and  witnesses  an  eruption  of 
Mount  Hecia — Disturbance  among  his  crew — 
Steers  westward,  encountering  great  qua?itities 
of  ice — Discovers  and  explores  Hudson^ s  Bay ^ 
and  resolves  to  winter  there. 

It  is  said  that  Hudson  made  new  proposals  for 
a  farther  voyage  to  the  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
pany, and  that  these  proposals  were  declined.* 
His  plan  was  to  set  sail  (with  a  crew  of  twenty- 
men)  from  Dartmouth,  on  the  first  of  JNIarch, 
"  spend  the  month  of  April  and  half  of  ]\Iay  in 
killin^r  whales  and  other  creatures  near  the  Isl- 
and  of  Panar  :  after  that,  sail  to  the  north-west 
and  stay  there  till  the  middle  of  September,  and 
at  last  return  to  Holland  by  the  north-east  of 
Scotland." 

»  Forster's  Northern  Voyages. 


HENRY  HUDSON.  91 

Whether  this  story  be  true  or  false,  certain  it 
IS  that  he  was  not  long  seeking  employment. 
Another  voyage  had  given  him  a  greater  name, 
and  the  story  of  his  discoveries  roused  once  more 
the  spirit  of  the  London  Company.  His  old 
employers  (who  had  sent  him  out  in  1607  and 
'8)  now  called  him  again  into  their  own  service. 
They  determined  to  make  an  effort  for  a  north- 
west passage  by  examining  the  inlets  of  the 
American  continent — and  more  especially  Davis' 
Straits,  through  which  it  was  supposed  a  channel 
might  be  found  into  the  "  Great  South  Sea." 
Early  in  the  spring  of  1610,  therefore,  the  ship 
Discovery,  of  fifty-five  tons,  was  equipped,  manned 
with  twenty-three  men,  and  the  command  given 
to  Henry  Hudson. 

One  of  these  twenty-three  w^as  Robert  Juet, 
who  had  sailed  with  Hudson  before,  another,  his 
son  John  Hudson,  and  another,  Henry  Green, 
whose  history  I  will  briefly  relate  to  you,  as  he 
is  to  act  a  conspicuous  part  in  this  voyage. 

Henry  Green  was  a  young  Englishman,  born 
of  respectable  parents,  and  had  respectable  con- 
nexions— but  by  his  extravagant  and  wicked 
habits  he  had  forced  them  to  cast  him  off,  and 
was  now  almost  a  beggar.  In  this  condition, 
Hudson  fell  in  with  him  j  and  having  pity  for  his 


92  HEXRY  HUnsON. 

youth,  and  a  desire  to  reclaim  him  from  his  worth- 
less ways,  he  clothed  and  fed  him,  hoping  to  gain 
the  young  man's  love  and  gratitude.  The  thought 
now  struck  him  that  he  would  take  Green  out 
on  this  voyage.  His  name  was  not  entered  as 
one  of  the  crew  :  he  was  only  the  companion 
of  the  master.  Yet  to  rouse  his  ambition  and 
prompt  him  to  that  which  was  good,  Hudson 
promised  him  wages  :  and  to  awaken  his  pride 
the  more,  encouraged  him  to  hope  that  he  should 
be  made  upon  his  return  one  of  the  "  Prince's 
Guards."  Through  Hudson's  persuasion,  a  friend 
went  to  the  mother  of  Green,  and  asked  for  enough 
money  to  purchase  some  clothes  for  the  voyage. 
Yet  she  knew  the  madness  and  profligacy  of  her  son 
so  well,  that  she  hesitated  long  before  she  would 
advance  even  five  pounds,  and  then  it  was  bestow- 
ed on  the  express  condition  that  it  should  not  be 
given  to  the  young  man,  but  expended  for  him. 
On  the  17th  of  April,  1610,  the  Discovery 
dropped  down  the  Thames.  It  seems  that  the 
London  Company  had  insisted  upon  placing 
aboard  an  experienced  seaman  by  the  name  of 
Coleburne  to  make  this  voyage  with  Hudson. 
Whether  he  supposed  that  this  cast  a  reflection 
upon  his  own  skill,  or  from  some  other  cause, 
Hudson  was  displeased  with  it ;  and  ere  the  ship 


HENRY   HUDSON.  93 

left  the  river,  he  put  this  man  aboard  another 
vessel  bound  up  to  London  and  sent  him  back. 
It  is  strange  that  we  do  not  know  his  motives  for 
this,  since  he  sent  by  the  man  a  letter  to  his  em- 
ployers containing  the  reasons  for  his  conduct. 

He  now  kept  on  his  voyage.  On  the  6th  of 
May,  he  passed  the  north  of  Scotland  and  the 
Orkneys,  which  he  says  he  found  to  be  "  not  sc 
northerly  as  is  commonly  set  down."  On  the 
8th,  he  saw  the  Faroe  Islands,  and  on  the  lllh 
was  upon  the  eastern  shores  of  Iceland.  Coast- 
ing along  its  southern  shore,  he  beheld  in  the  dis- 
tance Mount  Hecla  casting  forth  its  flames  of  fire : 
and  after  strugghng  for  more  than  a  fortnight 
against  head  winds  and  icebergs,  at  length,  on  the 
30th,  made  a  harbor  in  the  western  part  of  the 
island.  The  natives  of  this  island  were  poor 
and  miserable,  but  they  treated  him  very  kindly. 
He  found  upon  going  ashore  a  hot  spring,  (Iceland 
abounds  in  these  springs,)  so  hot  that  "  it  w^ould 
scald  a  fowl" — yet  we  are  told  the  men  bathed 
in  the  water  freely.  Here  Hudson  began  to  discov- 
er that  he  unfortunately  had  about  him  some  dis- 
satisfied men.  It  was  rumored  that  Juet  the  mate 
had  been  speaking  lightly  of  the  enterprise,  dis- 
couraging the  men,  and  trying  to  destroy  their 
confidence  in  Hudson,  calling  up  their  fears  by 


94  HENRY   HUDSON. 

telling  tliem  of  the  hazards  of  the  voyage :  that 
he  had  even  urged  two  of  the  men  "  to  keep  their 
muskets  cha-rged  and  swords  ready  in  their  cabins, 
for  there  w^ould  be  blood  shed  before  the  voyage 
ended,"  and  had  talked  boldly  about  turning  the 
head  of  the  ship  homew^ard.  While  the  ship  lay 
here  at  anchor,  a  circumstance  occurred,  which 
gave  Juet  the  chance  of  making  new  mischief. 
The  surgeon  and  Henry  Green  got  into  a  quarrel, 
and  Juet  took  part  in  it.  The  w^hole  story  is  told 
by  Habakkuk  Pricket,  one  of  the  sailors  and  an 
eye-watness,  in  the  following  w^ords :  "  At  Ice- 
land, the  surgeon  and  he  (Henry  Green)  fell  out 
m  Dutch,  and  he  beat  hun  ashore  in  English, 
which  set  all  the  company  in  a  rage,  so  that  w^e 
had  much  ado  to  get  the  surgeon  aboard.  I 
told  the  master  of  it,  but  he  bade  me  let  it  alone  : 
for,  said  he,  the  surgeon  had  a  tongue  that  would 
wrong  the  best  friend  he  had.  But  Robert  Juet, 
the  master's  mate,  would  needs  burn  his  finger  in 
the  embers,  and  told  the  carpenter  a  long  tale 
when  he  was  drunk,  that  our  master  had  brought 
in  Green  to  crack  his  credit  that  should  displease 
him  :  which  word  was  carried  to  the  master's  ears, 
who  when  he  understood  it,  would  have  gone 
back  to  Iceland,  when  he  was  forty  leagues  from 
thence,  to  have  sent  home  his  mate  Robert  Juet 


HENRY   HUDSON.     .  95 

in  a  fisherman.  But  being  otherwise  persuaded, 
all  was  well.  So  Henry  Green  stood  upright 
and  very  inward  with  the  master,  and  was  a  ser- 
viceable man  every  way  for  manhood :  but  for 
religion  he  would  say,  he  was  clean  paper  W'here- 
on  he  might  write  what  he  would."* 

On  the  1st  of  June,  Hudson  sailed  from  Ice- 
land. Deceived  by  a  fog-bank,  he  fancied  that 
he  saw  land  in  the  west,  but  it  was  not  till  the 
4th,  that  he  beheld  the  coast  of  Greenland  "  rising 
very  mountainous,  and  full  of  round  hills  like  to 
sugar  loaves  covered  with  snow."  The  ice 
lay  so  thick  along  the  shore,  that  Hudson  did 
not  attempt  to  make  a  landing,  but  stood  imme- 
diately for  the  south  of  Greenland.  In  his  voy- 
age now  he  met  great  numbers  of  whales.  Some 
came  close  alongside,  and  one  passed  directly 
under  the  ship,  but  fortunately  no  harm  was 
done,  for  w^hich  they  were  very  thankful.  Doub- 
ling the  southern  point  of  Greenland,  he  passed 
in  sight  of  Desolation  Island,  near  which  he  saw 
a  "  great  island  or  mountain  of  ice,"  and  kept 
his  course  north-west,  for  the  American  conti- 
nent. As  he  passed  on,  across  Davis'  Straits,  he 
continually  met  these  floating  ice  mountains,  al- 

*  It  seems  from  this,  that  when  Hudson  left  Iceland  he  was 
igaorant  of  the  extent  of  Juet's  insolence. 


96  .     HENRY    HUDSON. 

ways  endangering  and  sometimes  obstructing  his 
progress.  One  of  these  overturned  once  near 
the  ship,  and  taught  him  to  keep  farther  from 
them  :  but  Avhile  strugghng  to  avoid  one,  he 
would  meet  another,  and  the  farther  he  went  they 
seemed  to  hira  to  grow  more  ^'  numerous  and  ter- 
rifying." Still,  by  perseverance  and  skill,  he 
managed  to  reach  a  bay,  (supposed  to  be  near 
the  great  strait  which  now  bears  his  name,)  when 
a  storm  overtook  him.  The  ice  was  now  driving 
so  rapidly  against  the  ship,  that  Hudson  was 
forced  as  his  only  chance  for  escape,  to  run  her 
into  the  thickest  of  it,  and  there  leave  her.  Some 
of  the  men  were  now  dismayed  and  sick,  or,  as 
the  journal  says,  "  some  of  our  men  fell  sick  :  I 
will  not  say  it  was  of  fear,  although  I  saw  small 
sign  of  other  grief."  When  the  storm  ceased  they 
went  to  work  to  extricate  themselves.  It  was 
a  sad  prospect,  for  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see, 
the  waters  were  covered  with  the  huge  masses 
of  floating  ice.  They  stood  now  for  one  clear 
sea,  and  then  for  another,  but  were  still  hemmed 
in  by  the  ice  in  every  direction.  After  trying  to 
make  their  way  through  north,  north-west,  west, 
and  south-west,  they  at  last  laid  the  ship's  course 
to  the  south.  Yet  the  more  they  labored,  the 
worse  their  situation  became,  until  at  last  they 


HENRY   HUDSON.  97 

could  proceed  no  farther.  Hudson's  heart  now 
sickened,  for  as  he  cast  his  eyes  again  and  again 
upon  the  desolate  scene,  there  seemed  no  possi- 
biUty  of  escape.  Yet  his  courage  failed  not,  al- 
though he  afterwards  confessed  to  one  of  the 
men  that  he  feared  he  should  never  escape,  but 
was  doomed  to  perish  there  in  the  ice.  His 
crew,  however,  saw  no  sign  of  fear  in  him,  for 
he  carried  a  cheerful  countenance,  while  they 
were  dismayed  and  broken  spirited. 

He  now  brought  out  his  chart,  and  calling  all 
the  men  around  him,  shewed  them  that  they  had 
passed  three  hundred  miles  farther  than  any 
Englishman  had  been  before,  and  gave  them 
their  choice,  whether  they  would  proceed  or  turn 
back.  The  men  could  come  to  no  decision : 
some  were  for  proceeding,  some  for  returning. 
One  man  said  that  "if  he  had  one  hundred 
pounds,  he  would  give  four  score  and  ten  to  be 
at  home  •" — while  the  carpenter,  who  had  some 
courage,  said  "  that  if  he  had  a  hundred 
he  would  not  give  ten  upon  any  such  condition : 
but  would  think  it  to  be  as  good  money  as  any 
he  ever  had,  and  to  bring  it  as  v»'ell  home  by  the 
leave  of  God."  The  great  majority  of  them  did 
not  care  where  they  went,  provided  they  were 
only  clear  of  the  ice,  and  some  spoke  angry 
9 


98  HENRY   HUDSON. 

words  against  the  master.  This  was  precisely 
what  Hudson  expected.  He  knew  that  he  had 
a  mutinous  set  of  men,  and  that  they  themselves 
scarcely  knew  what  they  desired.  Yet  this  wa? 
no  time  to  resent  their  \vords  and  punish  them 
His  object  w^as  to  pacify  them.  He  therefore 
reasoned  with  them,  trying  to  allay  their  fears, 
rouse  their  hopes,  and  inspire  them  with  courage, 
until  at  length,  they  all  again  set  resolutely  at  work 
to  bring  the  ship  from  the  ice,  and  save  them- 
selves. After  much  labor  they  succeeded  in 
turning  her  round.  They  now^  worked  their 
way  by  little  and  little,  until  at  length  they  found 
themselves  in  a  clear  sea,  and  kept  on  their 
course  north-west. 

There  is  no  scene  in  the  life  of  Hudson  shew- 
ing greater  firmness  and  presence  of  mind  than 
this.  With  his  little  ship  hemmed  in  by  moun- 
tains of  ice,  and  a  murmuring  and  desperate 
crew  on  board,  he  might  naturally  have  exhibit- 
ed some  symptoms  of  fear,  both  as  to  the  dan- 
gers without,  and  the  danger  within  the  ship. 
There  can  be  few  situations  more  perilous,  yet 
he  is  calm.  His  mind  rises  with  the  occasion  . 
he  brings  around  him  these  desperate  sailors, 
calms  their  fears,  and  inspires  them  with  new 
courage.  Overcoming  these,  he  now  overcomes 
the  storm  without,  and  presses  on  his  voyage. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  99 

On  the  8th  of  July,  he  again  saw  the  land 
bearing"  south-west,  but  it  was  all  covered  with 
snow,  and  he  gave  it  the  name  of  Desire  Pro- 
voked. Having  now  entered  the  straits  which 
bear  his  name,  he  kept  his  course  west,  and 
spent  nearly  the  whole  month  of  July  in  passing 
'hrough  them.  This  was  a  new  world  around 
hem,  and  as  he  passed  on,  he  gave  names  to  the 
»ew  bays,  capes,  and  islands,  which  fell  under 
\is  observation.  The  main  land  he  called 
'  ■  Magna  Britannia.''^  To  some  rocky  islands 
5  ear  which  he  anchored  as  a  shelter  from  a 
ii-:orm,  he  gave  the  name  of  the  "  Isles  of  God^s 
Jlercies,''  and  to  a  high  point  of  land  which  he 
pissed,  the  name  of '^  Hold  loith  Hope.'^  To 
o<her  places  he  gave  the  names  of  Prince  Hen- 
ry^s  Cape,  King  Jameses  Cape,  and  Queen  Ann's 
Cape.  They  were  still  occasionally  in  the  neigh  • 
borhood  of  ice,  but  the  men  seem  now  to  have 
become  familiar  with  this  sort  of  danger,  and 
even  from  time  to  time  to  have  amused  them- 
selves by  chasing  bears  that  were  seen  upon  the 
floating  pieces.  The  last  point  of  land  which 
he  seems  to  have  marked  jpon  this  course,  was 
a  bold  headland  upon  the  northern  shore,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Salisbury's  Fore- 
land.    From  this  point,  he  stood  south-west,  and 


100  HENRY   HUDSON. 

running  about  fourteen  leagues,  entered  a  strait 
about  two  leagues  broad.  In  honor  of  two  of 
the  company  that  had  employed  him,  he  named 
the  cape  on  the  south  side  of  the  strait.  Cape 
Worsenholme,  and  that  on  the  north,  Cape 
Digges.  This  strait,  you  "^vill  find,  \vas  but  the 
passage  way  to  the  great  bay,  which  now  bears 
his  name. 

Full  of  hope,  now  that  the  long-sought  pas- 
sage to  the  East  was  clear  before  him,  he  sent 
a  number  of  the  men  on  shore  at  Cape  Digges, 
that  they  might  climb  the  hills,  and  see  the  great 
ocean  beyond  the  straits.  As  the  men  \vander- 
ed  on  the  land,  which  was  covered  with  grass, 
(among  which  was  much  sorrel  and  scurvy 
grass,)  they  saw^  herds  of  deer :  at  one  time  as 
many  as  sixteen  in  a  .herd,  and  abundance  of 
fowls  flying  over  their  heads.  Still  pressing  to- 
ward the  hills,  which  seemed  to  grow  farther  as 
they  advanced,  they  met  with  strange  piles  of 
stones.  These  they  thought  must  be  the  work 
of  some  civilized  people,  but  on  coming  near 
and  lifting  up  one  of  the  stones,  they  found  the 
piles  were  hollow,  and  filled  inside  with  fowls 
hung  by  the  neck.  A  thunder  storm  now  came 
on,  and  prevented  their  exploring  farther.  With 
some  difficulty  they  reached  the  ship,  for  a  fog 


HENRY   HUDSON.  101 

nad  risen  upon  the  water,  and  Hudson  found 

it  necessary  to  fire  two  guns,  that  they  might 

know  where  he  w^as.      They  told  of  what  sup- 

pHes  they  had  found,  and  when  the  storm  was 

over,  tried  to  persuade  the  master  to  remain  here 

a  day  or  two,  w^hile  they  went  ashore  again,  and 

provisioned  the  ship.     But  Hudson  w^ould  Hsten 

to  no  such  request.      He  could  suffer  no  delay, 

for  he  felt  almost  certain  that  his  way  w^as  clear 

before  him,  and  he  burned  to  press  onward.  He 

"Weighed  anchor  immediately,  and  keeping  the 

main  land  on  the  left,  touched  the  rocks  among 

the  Sleepers,  encountered  a  storm,  and  passing 

south-east,  soon  discovered  two  points  of  land 

before   him.      He  now  sent  some  of  the  men 

ashore  again,  to  notice  if  they  could  see  the  ocean 

beyond.     They  returned,  reporting  that  the  sea 

was  open  to  the  south.      Pressing  immediately 

between  these  points  he  entered  the  sea,  and 

continuing  his  course  south,  (stopping  only  once 

to  take  in  ballast  and  water,)  was  ere  long  at  the 

southern  extremity  of  it.     It  proved  to  be  only 

a  part  of  the  great  inland  sea  (Hudson's  Bay) 

upon  which  he  was  voyaging  ;  and  disappointed 

that  he  could  proceed  no  farther  in  this  direction, 

with  a  sad  heart  he  prepared  to  retrace   his 

course  northward.     Here  he  began  to  hear  onc« 

9* 


102  HENRY   HUDSON. 

more,  the  murmurings  of  his  mutinous  crew.  He 
had  borne  with  their  complaints  patiently  be- 
fore, but  now  he  would  endure  them  no  longer. 
Robert  Juet  the  mate,  and  Francis  Clement  the 
boatswain,  were  suspected  of  making  the  trouble, 
and  Juet,  like  most  guilty  men,  endeavored  to 
make  a  show  of  innocence  by  demanding  that  the 
charges  against  him  should  be  investigated.  A 
court  of  inquiry  was  therefore  appointed  to  try 
him.  It  was  proved  that  before  they  reached 
Iceland,  Juet  had  tried  to  dishearten  the  men 
and  shake  their  confidence  in  the  commander : 
his  insolence  as  regards  the  quarrel  between 
Green  and  the  surgeon,  and  his  wicked  advice 
to  some  of  the  men  to  keep  their  arms  loaded  by 
them,  were  also  sworn  to  :  and  there  were  wit- 
nesses to  shew  that  ever  since  the  ship  left  Cape 
Digges,  he  had  been  endeavoring  to  plot  mis- 
chief. Hudson  decided,  therefore,  that  he  should 
no  longer  be  the  mate,  and  Robert  Bylot  was 
appointed  in  his  place.  The  boatswain  was 
found  guilty  of  conduct  almost  as  bad,  and  his 
place  was  given  to  William  Wilson.  Hudson 
seems  to  have  felt  sorry  that  he  found  these  acts 
necessary,  for  he  admonished  both  Juet  and 
Clement  kindly,  and  promised  that  if  they 
would  behave  well  for  the  future  he  would  not 


HENRY   HUDSON.  103 

only  forget  past  injuries,  but  be  the  means  of 
doing  them  good. 

It  was  now  the  10th  of  September,  and  Hud- 
son, moving  north  again,  spent  the  whole  of  this 
and  the  next  month  in  exploring  the  great  bay, 
still  longing  for  his  eastern  passage.  From  time 
to  time  tempests  would  strike  the  ship,  and  he 
would  make  a  harbor  where  he  could.  During 
one  storm  they  were  forced  to  cut  their  cable, 
and  thereby  lost  their  anchor.  At  another  time 
the  ship  ran  upon  rocks,  and  stuck  fast  for 
twelve  hours,  but  fortunately  got  off  without 
much  injury.  At  length,  the  end  of  October  was 
at  hand ;  "  the  nights  long  and  cold,  the  land 
covered  with  snow"  wherever  it  was  seen,  and 
it  was  evident  that  the  season  for  navigation  was 
well  nigh  past.  Hudson  now  ran  the  ship  into 
a  small  bay,  and  sent  Habakkuk  Pricket,  one 
of  the  sailors,  and  Philip  StafFe,  the  carpenter, 
off  in  the  boat,  to  search  for  a  proper  place 
where  they  might  shelter  themselves  for  the  win- 
ter. In  a  little  time  they  found  what  they 
thought  a  suitable  position,  the  ship  was  brouc^ht 
there,  and  hauled  aground.  It  was  now  the  first 
day  of  November  ;  and  by  the  tenth  they  found 
themselves  shut  up  for  the  season :  hard  freezing 
weather  had  set  in,  and  the  ship  w^as  completely 
fastened  in  the  ice. 


104  HENKY    HUDSON. 

Some  have  found  fault  with  this  attempt  of 
the  commander  to  winter  in  this  northern  bay. 
It  is  said  "  that  Hudson,  on  finding,  instead  of  the 
India  passage,  that  he  was  embayed,  became 
distracted,  and  committed  many  errors,  especially 
in  resolving  to  winter  in  that  desolate  region."* 
It  is  easy  to  find  fault  with  a  man,  Vv'hen  we  do 
not  understand  the  difficulties  of  his  position, 
and  especially  when  he  proves  in  the  end  unfor- 
tunate. He  had  enough  to  distract  him  :  but  we 
can  hardly  call  him  distracted,  who  bore  him- 
self again  and  again  so  firmly  and  calmly  against 
his  mutinous  crew,  and  met  so  resolutely  tempest 
after  tempest  in  that  great  bay,  which  the  jour- 
nal speaks  of  as  "  a  labyrinth  without  end." 

•  Purchas. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  dreary  prospect  of  the  winter— Disturbances 
among  the  crew— Unexpected  supply  of  wild 
fowl  and  fish— Distress  from  hunger— Hud^ 
son  sails  from  his  winter  quarters— Green, 
Juet,  and  Wilson  stir  the  crew  up  to  mutiny 
—Hudson  is  seized,  bound,  and  thrown  into 
the  shallop,  with  others— the  shallop  set  adrift 
—Fate  of  the  mutineers— The  ship  arrives  in 
Jlngland. 

A  LONG  and  dreary  winter  was  now  set  in. 
1  lYO  harsdhips  were  distinctly  before  them,  the 
igors  of  a  northern  winter,  and  a  scanty  supply 
){  provisions;  for  the  ship  had  been  victualled 
only  for  six  months.  Their  only  hope,  therefore, 
was  to  take  care  of  what  they  had,  to  get  what 
they  could  in  the  neighborhood,  andhave  patience 
till  the  spring,  when  they  might  reach  Cape  Dig- 
ges,  and  then  probably  obtain  supplies. 

Hudson  prudently  commenced  at  once  putting 
the  men  on  an  allowance,  and  then,  to  encourage 


106  HENRY    HUDSON. 

them  to  industry  in  procuring  other  provisions, 
offered  a  reward  to  every  man  who  should  kill  a 
"  Beast,  Fish,  or  Fowl."  In  about  a  fortnight, 
one  of  their  nunaber  (John  Williams,  the  gunner) 
died  :*  and  in  addition  to  the  sorrow  ot^  losing  a 
companion,  another  difficulty  attended  this  mis- 
fortune. 

It  seems  it  was  customary,  when  a  man  died  at 
sea,  after  his  burial,  to  bring  his  clothes  to  the 
main-mast,  and  there  sell  them  to  the  highest 
bidder  among  the  sailors.  The  poor  gunner  had, 
among  other  garments,  left  an  old  gray  cloth 
gown,  which  Henry  Green  desired,  and  begged 
the  commander  that  he  would  favor  him  and  al- 
low him  to  have  it.  Upon  his  agreeing  to  pay 
as  much  as  any  other  man  would,  Hudson  impru- 
dently promised  it  should  be  his.  This  dissatis- 
fied the  crew,  for  it  evidently  showed  that  Green 
was  a  favorite. 

Finding  his  w-inter  quarters  not  so  comforta- 
ble as  they  might  be,  he  now  ordered  the  car- 
penter to  go  ashore  and  build  a  house,  for  the 
better  accommodation  of  the  crew.  The  car- 
penter refused  to  obey,  saying,  that  the  frost  and 

*  Hudson  is  said  to  have  treated  this  man  cruelly,  but  no 
word  or  action  of  liis  is  brought  forward  to  support  this 
charge. 


HENRY     HUDSON.  107 

snow  were  such,  that  he  could  not  do  it,  and 
moreover  that  it  was  no  work  of  his,  for  he  was 
only  the  ship  carpenter.  Hudson  now  became 
angry,  and  driving  him  out  of  the  cabin,  followed 
him  with  abusive  words,  and  even  threatened  to 
hang  him.  The  carpenter,  still  insolent,  replied, 
"  that  he  knew  what  belonged  to  his  place  better 
than  Hudson,  and  that  he  was  no  house  carpen- 
ter" The  carpenter,  though  insolent,  it  would 
seem,  was  right  enough  in  one  particular  :  it  was 
late  to  build  the  house  now  ;  it  should  have  been 
attended  to  when  they  were  first  frozen  in,  and 
he  had  then  spoken  to  Hudson  about  it,  but  at 
that  time  he  refused  to  have  it  done.  In  this 
quarrel,  Henry  Green  sided  with  the  carpenter, 
and  this  displeased  Hudson  the  more.  The  diffi- 
culty being  ended,  the  carpenter  had  time  for 
reflection,  and  thinking  that  obedience  was  best, 
not  only  built  the  house,  (which,  however,  prov- 
ed of  little  advantage,)  but  was  ever  after  one 
of  the  Avarmest  friends  that  Hudson  had  in  the 
ship. 

The  day  after  this,  the  carpenter  went  ashore 
wdth  his  gun,  taking  Green  along  with  him. 
Green  left  contrary  to  orders,  and  the  master  was 
again  displeased  with  him.  He  now  took  the 
cloth  gown  of  the  gunner  that  had  been  prom- 


08  HENRY  HUDSON. 

ised  to  Green,  and  gave  it  to  Robert  Bylot,  the 
mate.  Upon  Green's  return,  he  was  angry,  and 
reminded  the  master  of  his  promise  Hudson 
upon  this  spoke  harshly  to  Green,  telling  him 
"  that  all  his  friends  would  not  trust  him  with 
twenty  shillings,  and  therefore  why  should  he  ? 
As  for  his  wages  he  had  none,  nor  should  have, 
if  he  did  not  please  him  well."  These  words 
were  never  forgotten  by  Green,  but  sank  deeply 
in  his  heart.  He  seems  to  have  forgotten  all 
former  kindness  in  the  remembrance  of  them. 

As  the  season  now  advanced,  they  suffered  se- 
verely from  the  cold  :  most  of  the  men,  from  time 
to  time,  having  their  feet  frozen,  and  being  ren- 
dered thereby  lame.  But  in  the  way  of  provis- 
ions, they  fared  for  a  while  much  better  than  they 
had  even  expected.  For  three  months,  they  found 
abundance  of  white  partridges  around  them,  and 
killed  of  these  more  than  one  hundred  dozen. 
Other  birds  too,  were  sometimes  shot.  These 
afforded  supplies  through  "  the  extreme  cold 
weather,"  and  when  spring  came,  they  were  vis- 
ited by  other  fowl,  such  as  swan,  geese,  and 
ducks.  These,  however,  were  taken  with  diffi- 
culty. Hudson  hoped,  when  they  first  made 
their  appearance,  that  they  came  to  this  region  to 
breed,  and  might  be  taken  easily,  but  he  found 


HENRY    HUDSON.  109 

tliey  went  farther  north  for  that  purpose.  Before 
the  ice  broke  up,  these  too  began  to  fail,  and 
starvation  now  drove  them  to  sad  extremities 
They  went  dimbingover  the  hills,  and  wandering 
through  the  valleys,  in  search  of  anything  that 
might  satisfy  hunger.  They  ate  the  moss  on 
the  ground,  and  every  frog  that  could  be  found 
It  was  a  great  comfort  to  them  when  Thomas 
Woodhouse,  one  of  their  company,  discovered 
in  his  wanderings  a  tree  bearing  certain  buds,  full 
of  "  turpentine  substance."  They  now,  from 
time  to  time,  would  gather  these,  boil  them,  and 
make  a  palatable  drink.  These  buds,  too, 
answered  another  purpose.  When  steeped  hot, 
and  applied  by  the  surgeon  to  their  aching  limbs, 
they  gave  great  relief  to  the  sick.* 

About  the  time  that  the  ice  began  to  break  up, 
they  were  visited  by  a  savage,  (the  only  one 
they  had  seen  through  the  winter,)  and  they  were 
greatly  cheered  by  his  arrival.  Hudson  treated 
him  with  great  kindness,  made  him  a  present  of 
a  knife,  boking-glass,  and  some  buttons,  and 
the  man  made  signs  that  he  would  return  again. 
He  was  true  to  his  promise  this  time,  for  he  came 
back  before  a  great  while,  drawing  his  sled,  load- 

*  This  tree  is  supposed  by  Doctor  Belknap  to  be  the  "Pop 
ulus  Balsamifera." 

10 


110  HENRY    HUDSON. 

ed  with  deer  and  beaver-skins.  He  was  receiv- 
ed again  very  kindly,  and  when  he  strangely 
returned  the  presents  he  had  received,  Hudson 
immediately  restored  them  to  him  again.  He 
then  traded  with  him  for  one  of  his  deer-skins, 
and  the  savage,  as  he  left  them  now,  made 
"  many  signs  of  people  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south,"  and  promised  that  after  so  many  sleeps, 
he  would  come  again.  "Whether  (as  has  been 
said)  Hudson's  hard  bargain  for  the  deer-skin 
displeased  him,  or  whether  some  other  cause 
actuated  him,  certain  it  is  that  he  came  no  more, 
and  now  all  hopes  of  obtaining  provision  through 
him  were  at  an  end. 

Fortunately,  now  the  ice  was  so  far  broken 
up,  that  they  were  enabled  to  make  up  a  fishing 
party,  to  try  their  skill  with  the  net.  On  the  first 
day  they  were  very  successful :  they  took  five 
hundred  fish.  They  now  began  to  think  their 
sorrows  at  an  end,  so  far  as  food  was  concerned, 
but  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  on 
no  day  after  did  they  take  "  a  quarter  of  that 
number."  At  this  time,  two  of  the  men  (Hen- 
ry Green  and  William  Wilson)  were  so  dissat- 
isfied, that  they  plotted  to  steal  the  boat,  push  off, 
and  shift  for  themselves.  But  Hudson  now  called 
for  the  boat  himself,  and  their  plot  proved  idle 


HENRY   HUDSON.  Ill 

He  had  perceived  the  woods  on  fire  at  the  south 
for  some  time,  and  fancied  that  if  he  could  reach 
thern,  he  might  find  some  of  the  people  and  ob- 
tain provisions.  Accordingly  he  made  ready  the 
boat,  took  in  eight  or  nine  days  provisions,  and 
leaving  orders  that  the  crew  should  take  in  wood, 
water,  and  ballast,  and  have  everything  in 
readiness  by  his  return,  he  departed.  His  voy- 
age too,  proved  profitless  —  ere  long  he  came 
back  disappointed  and  tired,  for  though  he  could 
come  near  enough  to  see  the  people  setting  the 
woods  on  fire,  he  could  never  reach  them.* 

The  men  had  obeyed  his  orders  during  his  ab- 
sence, and  were  now  prepared  to  depart  from 
their  cold  winter  quarters.  Before  he  weighed 
anchor,  Hudson,  with  a  sad  heart,  "  distributed 
among  the  crew  the  remnant   of  provisions," 

*  Hudson  is  said  to  have  acted  foolishly  in  leaving  the  men, 
and  not  prosecuting  the  fishing.  But  this  is  evidently  incor- 
rect, for  he  took  the  boat  when  they  were  failing  in  this  effort, 
and  went  off  with  the  earnest  desire  of  doing  good  to  them 
all. 

Purchas  (in  his  pilgrimage)  says,  "at  the  opening  of  the 
year  there  came  to  the  ship's  side  abundance  of  fish  of  all 
sorts,  that  they  might  therewith  have  fraught  themselves  for 
their  return,  if  Hudson  had  not  too  desperately  pursued  the 
voyage,  neglecting  this  opportunity  of  storing  themselves 
with  fish,  W'hich  he  committed  to  the  care  of  certain  careless, 
dissolute  villains,  which  in  his  absence  conspired  against 
kim — in  a  few  days  the  fish  all  forsook  them." 


112  HENRY  HUDSON. 

about  a  pound  of  bread  to  each  man,  "  and 
kno'wing  their  wretched  condition,  and  the  un- 
certainty of  what  might  befall  them,  he  also  gave 
to  every  man  a  bill  of  return,  which  might  be 
showed  at  home,  if  it  pleased  God  that  they 
came  home,  and  he  wept  when  he  gave  it  to 
them." 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  June,  when  they 
hoisted  sail.  Unfortunately,  in  three  or  four 
days,  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  ice, 
and  \Vere  forced  to  cast  anchor.  Here  it  was 
discovered,  that  some  of  the  men  had  alread) 
ravenously  ate  up  all  their  bread ;  and  now  some 
cheese  was  found,  and  divided  among  them, 
"  about  three  pounds  and  a  half  to  each  person." 
Some  of  the  more  prudent  part  of  the  crew  re- 
monstrated against  this,  saying,  "  that  if  all  the 
cheese  w<is  given  out,  some  of  the  men  would  de- 
vour their  share  at  once,  as  they  had  their  bread," 
and  they,  therefore,  advised  that  a  part  should  be 
kept  back.  But  as  some  of  the  cheese  was  bad, 
Hudson  determined  to  make  an  equal  division 
of  all  at  once,  and  thereby  prevent,  as  he  hoped, 
all  complaints. 

They  were  now  detained  at  their  anchorage 
amid  the  ice  for  nearly  a  week,  and  it  was  dur- 
ing this  time  that  signs  of  open  mutiny  began  to 


HENRY    HUDSON.  113 

appear  among  the  crew.  Hudson,  it  seems,  said 
to  one  of  the  men,  (Nicholas  Simmes,)  that  there 
would  be  a  breaking  up  of  chests,  and  a  search 
for  bread,  and  told  him  if  he  had  any  to  bring 
it  to  him.  The  man  obeyed,  and  immediately 
brought  forward  a  bag,  containing  thirty  cakes. 
Others  of  the  crew  now  became  greatly  exasper- 
ated, and  at  once  commenced  their  plot  for  the 
destruction  of  their  commander. 

Green  and  Wilson  now  went  at  midnight  to 
Pricket,  who  was  lame  in  his  berth,  and  opened 
the  plan.  This  Pricket  had  been  a  servant  of 
Sir  Dudley  Digges,  (one  of  the  company  who  had 
fitted  out  the  ship,)  and  the  mutineers  hoped  to 
secure  him  as  a  friend,  that  he  might  intercede 
for  pardon  in  their  behalf  with  his  old  master 
when  they  should  reach  England.  These  men 
complained  to  Pricket,  that  there  was  only  four- 
teen days  provision  in  the  ship,  that  the  master 
was  irresolute,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  that 
they  had  eaten  nothing  for  three  days,  and 
"  therefore,  were  determined  either  to  mend  or 
end,  and  what  they  had  begun  they  would  go 
through  with  it,  or  die."  Declarmg  that  they  be- 
lieved their  only  hope  was  in  taking  command 
of  the  ship  themselves,  they  expressed  themselves 
fully  resolved  to  do  so  at  all  hazards.  Their 
10* 


114  HENRY    HUDSON, 

plan  was,  to  take  the  master  and  all  the  sick, 
place  them  in  the  shallop,  set  it  adrift,  and  then 
shift  for  themselves. 

In  vain  did  Pricket  plead  with  them  of  the 
blackness  of  this  intended  crime.  He  reminded 
them  also,  of  their  wives,  their  cHldren,  and  their 
country,  from  which  they  would  cut  themselves 
off  for  ever  by  the  deed,  but  all  to  no  purpose  ; 
they  were  fully  bent  upon  it.  Green  told  him 
"  to  hold  his  peace,  for  he  knew  the  worst,  which 
w^as,  to  be  hanged  when  he  came  home,  and 
therefore,  of  the  two,  he  would  rather  be  hanged 
at  home  than  starved  abroad."  He  then  com- 
menced cursing,  and  threatened  to  have  Pricket 
put  in  the  shallop  vrith  the  rest.  Finding  his 
efforts  useless,  Pricket  now  begged  that  they 
would  delay  the  crime,  but  here  again  he  was 
unsuccessful,  they  declaring  that,  if  they  waited, 
the  plot  w^ould  be  discovered,  and  sorrow  would 
fall  upon  themselves.  He  begged  for  a  delay 
of  three  days,  of  two  days,  of  even  twelve 
hours,  but  all  without  effect.  He  now  upbraided 
them,  telling  them  that  it  was  not  their  own 
safety  they  sought,  but  blood,  and  that  they  were 
actuated  by  feelinos  of  revenge.  Upon  this, 
Green  seized  a  Bible  before  him,  and  swore 
"  he  would  do  harm  to  no  man,  and  what  he  did 


HENRY    HUDSON.  115 

was  for  the  good  of  the  voyage,  and  nothing 
else."  Wilson  then  took  the  same  oath,  after- 
wards Juet,  Thomas,  Perce,  Moter,  and  Bennet 
came  in  and  swore  to  the  same  purpose.  The 
precise  words  of  their  oath  were  as  follows  : 
"  You  shall  swear  frutl  to  God,  your  Prince,  and 
Country  ;  you  ^lall  do  nothing  but  to  the  glory 
of  God,  and  (he  good  of  the  action  in  hand,  and 
harm  to  no  vian^  Pricket  seems  to  have  brought 
them  to  this  positive  oath,  as  the  only  means  left 
for  restraining  them.  How  heartless  they  prov- 
ed^ and  how  utterly  they  forgot  the  oath,  we 
s-Aall  presently  see. 

Their  plan  was  now  arranged,  to  be  executed 
at  day-light,  and  in  the  mean  time,  the  wretch 
Green  hung  around  the  master  with  pretended 
love.  Besides  Hudson  and  the  sick,  they  had 
resolved  to  put  into  the  shallop  the  carpenter 
and  Henry  King.  They  pretended  to  be  dissat- 
isfied with  these,  because  of  some  injustice 
done  about  the  provisions ;  but  the  true  cause 
of  their  dislike  of  the  carpenter  was,  that  Hud- 
son loved  him,  and  after  leaving  their  winter 
quarters,  had  made  him  the  mate  in  place  of 
Robert  Bylot.  Pricket,  however,  urged  that 
they  could  not  do  without  the  carpenter,  and 
they  consented  that  he  should  remain.     ^  It  hap- 


116  HENRY   HUDSON. 

pened  that  King  and  the  carpenter  slept  upon 
deck  that  night,  and  at  day-break,  King  was  ob- 
served to  fro  down  "  into  the  hokl,"  as  Bennet, 
the  cook,  was  going  down  for  water.  Some  of 
the  mutineers  now  ran  ar^d  closed  down  the 
hatches  on  him,  while  others  lield  the  carpenter 
in  a  talk,  so  that  he  did  no<;  notice  what  was 
going  on.  Hudson  now  came  up  from  his  cabin, 
and  was  immediately  seized  by  Thomas  and 
Bennet,  who  held  him  fast,  while  Wilson  bound 
his  arms  behind  him.  "  He  asked  them  what 
they  meant?  they  told  him  he  should  krnw 
when  he  was  in  the  shallop."  In  the  meah 
time,  Juet  went  into  the  hold  to  attack  King. 
Here  there  w^as  a  sharp  conflict,  for  King  had 
got  a  sword,  and  not  only  kept  him  at  bay,  but 
would  have  killed  him,  had  not  others  who  heard 
the  noise  ran  down  to  Juet's  assistance.  Hud- 
son now  called  to  the  carpenter,  telling  him  that 
he  was  bound,  but  he  could  give  him  no  help. 
Lodlo  and  Bute  reproached  their  shipmates, 
telling  them  "  their  knavery  would  show  itself." 
The  boat  was  now  hastily  hauled  alongside,  and 
the  sick  and  lame  were  called  up  from  their 
berths,  to  get  into  the  shallop.  Hudson  now 
called  to  Pricket  to  come  to  the  hatch-way  to 
speak  with  him.     Pricket  crawled  up,  and  on 


HENRY    HUDSON.  117 

his  knees  "  besought  them,  for  the  love  of  God, 
to  remember  themselves,  and  do  as  they  would 
be  done  unto."  Their  only  answer  was,  to  or- 
der him  back  to  his  berth,  and  they  would  not 
allow  him  one  word  with  the  commander.  He 
went  back,  Hudson  still  calling  to  him  at  "  the 
horn  which  gave  light  into  his  cabin,  and  telling 
him  that  Juet  would  overthrow  them  all." 
"  Nay,"  replied  Pricket,  "  it  is  that  villain, 
Henry  Green." 

Hudson,  thus  bound,  was  put  into  the  shal- 
lop, and  his  son  John  thrown  in  alongside  of 
him.  Then  came  the  sick  and  the  lame,  Arnold 
Lodlo,Sidrack  Faner,  Thomas  Wydhouse,  Adam 
Moore,  Henry  King,  and  Michael  Bute.  Two 
others  were  to  have  been  put  in — Francis  Clem- 
ents, and  the  cooper;  but  John  Thomas  was  a 
friend  to  Clements,  and  Bennetto  the  cooper,  and 
while  Henry  Green  swore  they  should  go,  they 
swore  they  should  not,  and  at  last  they  were  al- 
lowed to  remain.  The  carpenter  was  now  free, 
and  they  desired  him  to  remain,  but  he  declared 
that  he  would  not  desert  his  commander,  or  stay 
with  such  villains.  He  asked  for  his  chest  of 
tools,  and  they  placed  it  in  the  shallop.  Before 
leaving,  he  went  below  to  talk  with  Pricket,  who 
begged  him  to  remain  and  use  his  influence  to 


118  HENRY    HUDSON. 

have  the  others  taken  back.  But  the  carpenter 
refused,  saying,  that  they  would  all  be  in  the 
ship  again,  for  there  was  no  one  on  board  who 
knew  enough  to  carry  her  home.  He  thought 
the  boat  would  be  kept  in  tow  only  for  a  time ; 
but  begged  Pricket,  if  they  should  be  parted, 
that  if  it  was  his  lot  first  to  reach  Cape  Digges, 
he  would  leave  some  token  there,  by  which  he 
might  know  it.  Promising  in  return  that  he 
would  do  the  same  thing,  if  he  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  first  there,  "  with  tears  in  their  eyes," 
they  parted.  The  carpenter,  now  taking  a  gun, 
some  powder  and  shot,  an  iron  pot,  a  small  quan- 
tity of  meal,  and  some  other  provisions,  leaped 
into  the  shallop.*  The  anchor  was  now  weigh- 
ed, the  sails  hoisted,  and  with  a  fair  wind 
they  stood  eastward,  dragging  the  shallop  at  the 

*  "  But  see  what  sincerity  can  do  in  the  most  desperate  trials. 
Philip  StafTe,  an  Ipswich  man,  who,  according  to  his  name,  had 
been  a  principal  staffe  and  stay  to  the  weaker  and  more  un- 
settled courage  of  his  companions  in  the  whole  action,  light- 
ening and  enlightening  their  drooping,  darkened  spirits,  with 
sparks  from  his  own  resolution  ;  their  best  purveyor  with  his 
piece  on  shore,  and  both  a  skilful  carpenter  and  lusty  mari- 
ner on  board,  when  he  could  by  no  persuasions,  seasoned  with 
tears,  divert  them  from  their  devilish  designs,  notwithstanding 
they  entreated  him  to  stay  with  them,  yet  chose  rather  to 
commit  himself  to  God's  mercy  in  the  forlorn  shallop,  than 
with  such  villains  to  accept  of  likelier  hopes." — Purchas  his 
Pilgrims. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  119 

stern.  When  they  had  nearly  cleared  the  ice, 
they  cut  the  rope,  and  the  boat  was  adrift. 

Now  they  hoisted  their  topsails,  and  stood 
away  into  a  clear  sea.  In  a  little  time  they  low- 
ered their  topsails,  righted  helm,  and  commenced 
the  work  of  ransacking  the  ship.  Chests  and 
lockers  were  broken  open,  and  every  place  was 
pillaged.  In  the  cabin  they  found  some  biscuit 
and  a  but  of  beer ;  and  a  few  pieces  of  pork, 
some  meal,  and  a  small  quantity  of  peas  were 
found  in  the  hold.  While  they  were  busy  at 
this  work,  some  one  cried  out,  that  the  shallop 
was^in  sight.  Pricket  now  besought  them  to 
take  their  poor  comrades  on  board  again.  But 
this  they  refused  to  do.  Although  they  had  now 
obtained  all  the  provisions  to  themselves,  and 
might  at  least  have  taken  the  boat  in  tow  as  far 
as  Cape  Digges,  where  Hudson  and  his  compan- 
ions might  have  found  some  relief,  and  perhaps 
once  more  reached  Europe — they  positively  re- 
fused to  aid  them  in  any  w»y.  The  tmth  is, 
these  mutineers  did  not  desire  that  they  should 
live  :  so  they  again  hoisted  sail,  and  stood  away 
from  the  boat "  as  from  an  enemy." 

A  more  outrageous  and  heartless  crime  than 
this,  committed  by  the  mutineers,  can  hardly  be 
thought  of.     It  wap  not  only  murder,  but  murder 


120  HENRY    HUDSON. 

under  the  very  worst  circumstances.  Green,  the 
ringleader  in  it,  had  been  taken  by  Hudson, 
■when  he  was  a  castaway  from  his  own  mother, 
and  treated  as  his  own  son.  He  repaid  the 
love  of  his  benefactor,  by  this  act  of  base  in- 
gratitude ;  and  his  conduct  serves  to  show-  how 
early  profligacy  and  sin  will  deaden  the  feelings 
of  the  heart,  and  steel  it  against  all  that  is  good. 
Juet,  another  conspirator,  had  sailed  with  the 
commander  on  former  voyages,  and  shared  all 
his  glories  and  his  perils.  Wilson,  another  of 
the  set,  had  been  selected  by  Hudson  as  a  good 
man,  and  appointed  the  boatswain.  This  w^as 
the  man  who,  more  than  any  other,  refused  to 
hearken  to  the  entreaty  of  Pricket,  that  the  men 
might  be  taken  aboard  —  and  these  were  the 
three  principal  men  w^ho  had  plotted  this  mis- 
chief. 

To  make  the  crime  w^orse,  with  cold-blooded 
cruelty,  they  took  the  sick  and  the  lame,  and 
gave  these  sufferin^^-  men  to  the  rough  winds  and 
cold  waters  of  the  Northern  Sea,  with  scarcely 
a  moi^el  to  subsist  upon.  It  would  have  been 
mercy,  indeed,  to  have  killed  them  all  at  once, 
but  their  cruelty  preferred  leaving  them  to  a  long, 
lingering,  and  horrible  death.  And  this  horrible 
death,  even  the  young  son  of  Hudson  was  to 


HENRY    HUDSON.  121 

share,  though  his  tender  years  might  have  pleaded 
in  his  behalf. 

The  mutineers  now  kept  on  their  way  under 
Hemy  Green,  who  was  appointed  their  com- 
mander. Their  aim  was  to  reach  Cape  Digges, 
but  it  was  more  than  a  month  before  this  was 
accomplished.  Green  was  utterly  ignorant  and 
unfit  to  command  ;  Robert  Juet  thought  he  was 
wiser,  and  offered  his  counsels :  but  the  truth 
is,  Robert  Bylot  was  the  most  serviceable  man 
among  them,  and  but  for  him,  they  would  probably 
have  never  reached  the  Capes  at  any  time.  Du- 
ring this  month,  the  ship  seems  to  have  been 
tossed  about  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds,  and  their 
lives  were  more  than  once  endangered.  At  one 
time  they  were  for  a  fortnight  embayed  with  ice, 
which  stretched  for  miles  around  them,  and  feared 
they  should  never  escape.  Thrice  did  the  ship 
run  upon  rocks,  and  on  one  occasion  remained 
so  for  hours,  until  the  flood  tide  floated  her  off. 
Provisions,  too,  were  scanty ;  but  they  were  able 
to  make  landings  sometimes,  and  catch  a  few 
fish,  shoot  a  few  fowl,  and  gather  the  cockle- 
grass  which  spread  itself  along  the  shores. 
Guilt  will  make  a  coward  of  any  man,  and  so 
these  men  were  all  cowards :  while  they  feared 
the  perils  which  surrounded  them,  they  also 
11 


122  HENRY  HUDSON. 

feared  even  the  success  of  reaching  England. 
Cursing  and  swearing,  they  ^vere  continually 
declaring  that  England  was  "no  safe  place  for 
them;"  and  Green  swore  that  the  ship  should 
keep  the  sea  until  he  had  the  king's  hand  and 
seal  for  his  pardon. 

At  length,  to  their  great  comfort,  they  came 
in  sight  of  the  Capes,  where  they  hoped  for  sup- 
plies.    The  boat  was  immediately  sent  ashore  to 
obtain  provisions.     As  it  approached,  it  was  met 
b}^  seven  canoes  filled  with  the  natives.     The 
savages  were  at  first  alarmed,  and  drew^  back ; 
but  presently  they  became  familiar,  and  hostages 
w^ere    exchanged  betw^een  the  parties.     After- 
wards they  all  went  ashore,  and  met  in  the  tents 
of  the  natives.     There  w^as  great  joy  among 
them.      The   savages   danced,   leaped,   stroked 
their  breasts,  and  offered  them  many  things,  so 
that  the  men  returned  to  the  ship  greatly  pleased, 
thinking  they  had  found  a  kind  and  hospitable 
people.     Some  few  of  the  mutineers  were  sus- 
picious of  these  savages;  but  most  of  them,  with 
Henry  Green  at  their  head,  had  all  confidence 
in  their  kindness. 

Accordingly,  the  next  day,  Green  ordered 
the  boat  to  be  made  ready,  and  with  Wilson, 
Thomas,  Perse,  Moter,  and  Pricket,  started  for 


HENRY    HUDSON.  123 

the  shore  :  the  boat  was  laden  with  such  articles 
as  they  thought  of  trafficking,  and  Pricket,  being 
lame,  was  to  remain  in  the  boat,  and  guard  the 
articles  while  the  others  landed.  Green  foolishly 
went  unarmed,  though  some  of  his  companions 
advised  him  to  the  contrary.  As  they  came 
near,  they  saw  the  savages  upon  the  hills,  dancing 
and  leaping.  The  boat  touched  and  was  fast- 
ened ;  and  while  Green,  Wilson,  and  Thomas 
met  the  savages  on  the  beach,  who  came  down 
displaying  their  articles  of  traffic,  Perse  and 
Moter  went  up  on  the  hills  to  pick  sorrel ;  Prick- 
et, in  the  mean  time,  remained  in  the  stern  of 
the  boat.  While  matters  were  going  on  thus, 
one  of  the  savages  stepped  into  the  boat ;  but 
Pricket,  bemg  suspicious,  ordered  him  out.  In 
the  mean  time,  another  stole  behind  Pricket,  un- 
observed, and  stabbed  him  twice  before  he  could 
reach  his  own  dagger  and  despatch  him.  Now 
there  was  a  general  conffict  on  shore.  Green, 
Perse,  Wilson,  and  Thomas  came  tumbling  into 
the  boat,  badly  wounded.  Moter,  seeing  the 
fight  from  the  hill,  leaped  from  the  rocks,  plunged 
into  the  sea,  and  held  fast  to  the  stern ;  Perse 
helped  him  in,  seized  a  hatchet,  laid  one  of  the 
savages  dead,  and  pushed  off  the  boat.  They 
were  followed  by  clouds  of  arrows :  Green  was 


124  HENRY   HUDSON. 

instantly  killed,  and  Perse  and  Pricket  again 
wounded  ;  still,  Perse  Avith  Moter  rowed  rapidly 
towards  the  ship,  until  Perse  fainted,  and  Moter 
was  left  to  manage  the  boat  alone.  Fortunately, 
the  savages  did  not  follow  them  with  their  boats. 
Moter  now  made  signals  to  the  ship,  (for  he 
could  not  reach  her,)  and  she  came  to  his  relief. 
The  body  of  Green  was  thrown  into  the  sea; 
"Wilson  and  Thomas  died  the  same  day,  cursing 
and  raving  in  the  most  awful  manner ;  and  Perse 
died  two  days  afterward. 

The  wretched  crew  still  needed  supphes,  and 
it  was  necessary,  even  at  the  peril  of  their  lives, 
to  obtain  them.  A  party  was  therefore  formed, 
who  went  along  the  shore  and  managed  to  kill 
a  quantity  of  fowl ;  and  now  they  hoisted  sail 
again,  glad  enough  to  depart  from  this  inhos- 
pitable region.  By  the  time  they  reached  the 
inlet  of  Hudson's  Straits,  their  provisions  again 
ran  so  low  that  they  were  obliged  to  live  on 
short  allowances,  and  devour  even  the  skins  of 
the  fowls.  Now  they  pressed  toward  the  Deso- 
lations, as  well  as  they  could.  Robert  Juet  m-ged 
them  to  steer  for  Newfoundland,  stating  that 
there  they  would  find  relief  from  some  of  their 
countrymen,  or,  if  they  failed  in  that,  would  at 
least  discover  some  supplies  left  behind  by  them. 


HENRY  HUDSON.  125 

Accordingly  they  altered  their  course ;  but,  for- 
tunately for  them,  as  it  turned  out,  the  wind 
changed,  and  they  now  determined  to  shape 
their  course  for  Ireland.  It  is  hardly  possible  to 
give  any  idea  of  the  sufferings  of  these  miserable 
men,  as  they  were  tossed  about  upon  the  ocean. 
Ignorant,  discontented,  and  sad,  they  lived  on, 
with  their  sorrows  increasing  from  day  to  day. 
All  their  meat  being  gone,  they  were  forced  to 
take  salt  broth  for  dinner,  and  half  a  fowl  for 
supper ;  then,  as  provisions  became  more  scanty, 
they  took  the  bones  of  the  fowls,  fried  them  in 
tallow,  and  ate  them  gladly.  Even  the  vinegar 
and  candles  were  now  divided  among  them  — 
about  a  pound  of  candles  to  each  man.  Yet 
they  were  far  from  Ireland.  Exhausted  and 
weakened,  they  became  unable  to  stand  at  the 
helm,  but  sat  and  steered  the  ship.  Juet  died  in 
agony,  of  starvation,  and  the  rest  were  now 
in  despair :  they  had  lost  all  hope  of  reaching 
Ireland ;  they  cared  not  which  way  the  vessel 
went.  Thie  poor  wretches  "  would  sit  and  see 
the  foresail  or  mainsail  fly  up  to  the  tops,  the 
sheets  being  either  flown  or  broken,  and  would  not 
help  it  themselves,  nor  call  to  others  for  help." 
At  length  it  pleased  God  to  bring  them  in  sight 
of  land.  They  raised  a  joyful  cry,  and  now 
11* 


126  HENRY   HUDSON. 

strived  to  reach  the  coast.  This  they  could  not 
do,  but  now,  by  God's  mercy,  a  still  more  joyful 
cry  was  heard  —  "  A  sail !  a  sail !"  A  fishing 
Dark  on  the  coast  had  marked  their  distress,  came 
off  to  them,  and  took  them  safely  into  a  harbor 
in  Ireland.  Their  wants  were  now  supplied, 
and  throuo;h  the  kindness  of  the  commander  of 
the  bark,  and  the  sympathy  of  a  stranger,  they 
were  enabled  to  reach  Plymouth ;  thence  they 
proceeded  to  Gravesend,  and  ere  long  were  in 
London. 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  Sir  Thomas 
Smith  (one  of  the  company  who  had  fitted  out 
this  ship)  when  these  men  appeared  before  him. 
He  had  not  heard  of  the  ship  for  nearly  eighteen 
months,  and  supposed,  of  course,  that  she  was 
lost.  Great,  too,  was  his  sorrow  and  the  sor- 
row of  all  England,  when  the  sad  story  of  their 
sufferings  and  sins  was  made  known  ;  for  Hud- 
son had  ever  reflected  honor  upon  his  country, 
and  his  countrymen  loved  him  and  grieved  over 
him. 

Such  was  their  love,  that  the  London  Com- 
pany was  not  satisfied  till  it  had  made  an  effort 
to  save  him.  The  next  year,  hoping  that  they 
might  learn  something  of  the  fate  of  Hudson, 
and  possibly  relieve  him,  two  ships  (the  Disco^ 


HENEY  HUDSON*  127 

very,  in  which  Hudson  had  last  sailed,  and  the 
Resolution)  were  sent  out,  under  the.  command 
of  Captain  Thomas  Button.  Pricket  was  taken 
along  as  a  sort  of  guide  j  and  as  the  flood  tide 
near  Cape  Digges  was  represented  by  him  as 
coming  from  the  west,  a  faint  hope  was  enter- 
tained that  they  might  also  find  the  Northwest 
passage. 

The  ships  returned  the  next  year,  having 
failed  in  both  objects.  No  tidings  of  Henry 
Hudson  were  ever  more  received.  Whether  he 
persevered  until  he  reached  Cape  Digges,  and 
was  there  murdered  by  the  savages ;  whether  he 
perished  in  the  ice,  or  died  by  famine,  or  was 
swallowed  by  the  waves,  no  man  can  tell.  All 
that  is  known  is,  that  Hudson  and  his  compan- 
ions were  never  more  heard  of. 

Whatever  was  his  fate,  however,  he  has  left 
behind  him  a  bright  and  honorable  name.  His 
reputation  is  this ;  that  with  matchless  fortitude 
he  lived  amid  the  perils  of  the  seas,  still  givirig 
names  to  strange  and  unknown  regions.  In 
England  they  mourned  for  him,  for  he  w^as  their 
countryman,  and  they  felt  his  loss.  Yet,  though 
he  was  no  native  of  our  land,  his  discoveries 
make  him  ours.  His  daring  adventures  were 
performed  in  this  New  World  where  we  dwell* 


128  HENRY   HUDSON. 

and  therefore  our  country  has  not  been  un- 
mindful of  perpetuating  his  memory.  She  has 
seized  his  name  as  something  which  belongs  to 
her  ;  written  it  upon  one  of  her  fairest  streams ; 
and  graven  it  for  ever  upon  the  palisades  and 
the  hills  of  the  Hudson.  His  best  monument  is 
indeed  in  this  western  world  ;  for  here  it  is,  upon 
the  continent  of  North  America,  that  a  bay,  a 
strait,  a  city,  and  a  river,  all  bear  the  name  of 
Hudson.* 

*  The  story  of  this  last  vo5'age  is  gathered  from  Hudson's 
own  journal,  the  journal  of  Habakkuk  Pricket,  and  a  note 
discovered  in  the  desk  of  Thomas  Wydhouse,  all  of  which 
may  be  seen  in  "  Purchas  his  Pilgrims." 

The  names  of  the  crew,  as  far  as  they  can  be  gathered, 
were  as  follows:  Henry  Hudson,  John  Hudson,  Robert  Juet, 
Henry  Green,  Habakkuk  Pricket,  Robert  Bylot,  William  Wil. 
son,  John  Thomas,  Bennet  the  cook,  Andrew  Moter,  Michael 
Perse,  Philip  Staffe,  Arnold  Lodlo,  Francis  Clements,  Michael 
Bute,  Thomas  Wydhouse,  Sidrack  Faner,  Adrian  Moore,  John 
King,  Nicholas  Simmes  John  Williams,  Matthews  and  the 
cooper,— 23. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Claim  of  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot,  as  having 
seen  what  is  now  Xew  York  in  1497  ;  together 
with  the  claim  of  John  de  Verrazzano,  to  having 
entered  JSTew  York  Harbor  in  1524. 

We  have  now  followed  Henry  Hudson  in  his 
last  adventure.  The  whole  of  his  career  is  in- 
teresting, but  the  story  of  his  third  voyage  par- 
ticularly so  to  the  citizens  of  the  State  of  New 
York — as  it  sets  him  forth  as  the  discoverer  of 
this  portion  of  the  New  World ;  the  first  Euro- 
pean who  trod  upon  our  own  soil.  I  am  anxious, 
however,  to  do  him  no  more  than  justice,  and 
while  I  believe  that  he  was  thus  the  discoverer 
of  what  is  now  New  York,  it  is  right  that  I 
should  tell  you,  that  some  have  supposed  that 
the  land  which  we  tread  was  possibly  seen, 
and  the  harbor  of  New  York  probably  entered, 
before  the  days  of  Henry  Hudson.  When  I 
shall  have  told  you  by  whom  it  is  thought  this 
was  done,  then  I  shall  have  fairly  finished. 


130  HENRY    HUDSON. 

The  names  of  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  are, 
I  dare  say,  well  known  to  many  of  you.  If  not, 
you  will  remember  now  that  they  were  experien- 
ced navigators — natives  of  Venice,  who  lived  in 
England.  In  the  year  1497,  these  men,  under  the 
patronage  of  King  Henry  the  Seventh,  sailed 
from  England  in  search  of  a  North-West  passage 
to  India.  It  is  said,  they  passed  along  the  coast  of 
North  America,  from  the  67th  to  the  26th  degree 
of  north  latitude.  In  this  run,  they  must  have 
passed  w^hatis  now  know^n  as  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  it  is  supposed  that  they  must  have  seen 
the  land.  But  if  they  did,  certain  it  is,  that  they 
did  nothing  more  than  see  it,  and  even  this  is  un- 
certain. It  is  very  remarkable,  that  these  men 
seem  not  even  to  have  noticed  the  coasts  along 
w^hich  they  passed.  At  least,  upon  their  return  to 
England,  they  had  no  satisfactory  knowledge  to 
give  farther  than  this,  that  there  was  a  western 
continent.  Intent,  probably,  upon  the  main  ob- 
ject of  their  voyage,  (a  passage  to  the  East,)  and 
not  finding  it,  they  lost  sight  of  other  things.  But 
at  best,  it  is  only  claimed  that  they  saw  the  land ;  it 
is  not  pretended  that  they  landed  on  any  part  of  it. 

A  stronger  claim  is  set  up  in  behalf  of  a  Flor- 
entine, John  de  Verrazzano,who  was  engaged  in 
the  service  of  Francis  First,  king  of  France.    It 


HENEY  HUDSON.  132 

seems  that  Verrazzano  had  been  trusted  by  his 
master,  for  some  time,  with  the  command  of  four 
ships,  to  cruise  against  the  Spaniards.      These 
ships  being  at  one  time  overtaken  by  a  storm 
and  separated,  Verrazzano  resolved  now  to  keep 
on  his  way  alone,  and  undertake  a  voyage  in 
search  of  new  regions.     The  world  was  then  fill- 
ed  with  the  stories  of  maritime  adventures  and 
new  discoveries,  and  he  seems  to  have  thought 
an  effort  this  way  more  pleasant,  and  perhaps 
more  profitable,  than  chasing  the  Spaniards.     It 
was  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  i„  the  year  1524 
that  with  these  feelings,  he  set  sail  from  the  des- 
olate rocks  to  the  east  of  Madeira,  (known  by 
the  English  as  "the  Deserters,")  and  kept  his 
course  westerly.      Nearly  two  months  passed 
away,  before  he  came  near  the  American  coast. 
He  then  reached  it  in  the  latitude  of  34  degrees 
north,  and  was  of  course  off  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina.      He  now  sailed  south  until  he  came 
(it  IS  said)  to  the  region  of  Palm-trees*     From 
this  point  he  turned  and  sailed  north,  as  far  as 
about  the  latitude  of  41  degrees  north,  where  he 


132  HENRY    HUDSON. 

entered  a  spacious  harbor.  Some  suppose  that 
this  was  the  harbor  of  New  York.  They  reach 
this  conchision,  as  they  think,  by  noticing  Ver- 
razzano's  description  of  the  harbor  which  he  en- 
tered, together  with  some  other  circumstances. 
His  description  is  in  the  following  words  :  "  This 
land  is  situated  in  the  parallel  of  Rome,  in  for- 
ty-one degrees  and  two  terces;  but  somewhat 
more  cold  by  accidental  causes.  The  mouth  of 
the  haven  lieth  open  to  the  south,  half  a  league 
broad,  and  being  entered  within  it,  between  the 
east  and  the  north,  it  stretcheth  twelve  leagues, 
where  it  weareth  broader  and  broader,  and 
maketh  a  gulf  about  twenty  leagues  in  compass, 
wherein  are  five  small  islands,  very  fruitful  and 
pleasant,  full  oi  high  and  broad  trees,  among 
the  which  islands,  any  great  navy  may  ride  safe, 
w^ithout  any  fear  of  tempest  or  other  danger."* 
This  has  been  thought  a  tolerably  fair  descrip- 
tion of  New  York  harbor  by  some ;  while  one 
celebrated  historianf  has  concluded  that  it  "  must 
be  that  of  JVew  York."  Others  again  have  fan- 
cied, that  it  agreed  better  with  the  harbor  of 

*  Verrazzano's  letter  to  Francis  Frst,  in  Hakluyt's  Collection 
of  Voyages.  The  letter  will  be  given  entire  at  the  close  of 
this  volume. 

t  Dr.  Belknap. 


HENRY   HUDSON.  133 

Newpoit,  in  Rhode  Island.  I  believe,  however, 
that  by  looking  closely  to  the  description,  it  will 
be  found  by  most  people,  difficult  to  apply  it  to 
either  of  those  harbors.* 

Verrazzano  remained  in  this  harbor  about  fif- 
teen days.  He  with  many  of  his  men  was 
frequently  on  shore,  trading  with  the  natives,  and 
he  describes  both  the  country  and  natives  fully. 
Here  again,  his  descriptions  of  the  persons,  dress, 
and  customs  of  the  savages,  are  supposed  to  bring 
before  us  the  same  people  that  were  seen  nearly 
a  century  afterward  by  Hudson.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  he  had  time  for  observation,  and 
while  his  descriptions  of  the  natives  may  be  com- 
plete, it  is  well  known  that  they  will  apply  to 
the  savages  on  other  parts  of  the  American  con- 
tinent, as  well  as  to  those  found  upon  the  soil  of 
w^hat  is  now  the  State  of  New  York.  All  that 
can  therefore  be  fairly  claimed  for  Verrazzano 
is  the  possibility,  perhaps  probabihty,  of  his  hav- 
ing been  in  New  York  harbor. 

Verrazzano  left  this  harbor  (whatever  harbor 
it  was)  on  the  fifth  of  May,  and  keeping  a  north- 
easterly course,  was  ere  long  as  high  as  the  56th 
degree  of  north  latitude — and  probably  some- 

*  This  is  the  opinion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Miller 

12 


134  HENRY   HUDSON.  . 

where  off  the  coast  of  Labrador  From  this 
point  he  sailed  directly  toward  France,  which  he 
reached  in  the  month  of  July.  A  few  days  after 
his  arrival  at  the  port  of  Dieppe,  he  wrote  his 
letter  to  the  French  King,  giving  the  story  of  his 
voyage.  The  story,  it  seems,  caused  no  excite- 
ment at  home,  nor  did  it  serve  as  a  guide  to  any 
future  navigator.  Nearly  a  century  passed 
away  before  we  hear  anything  farther  of  this 
part  of  the  American  continent,  and  then  we  hear 
of  it  through  the  voyage  and  discovery  of  Hen- 
ry Hudson.  Ignorant  of  the  discovery  of  this 
portion  of  the  new  world  by  any  preceding  nav- 
igator, he  sailed  from  England,  and  has  left 
among  us  the  certain  memorial  of  his  adven- 
tures.* 

It  may  prove  uninteresting  to  you  now,  but 

*  It  is  stated  by  Charlevoix,  that  Verrazzano,  a  short  time 
after  his  arrival  in  France,  fitted  out  another  expedition,  with 
the  design  of  establishing  a  colony  in  America  ;  and  that  all 
that  is  known  of  this  enterprise  is,  that  having  embarked, 
he  was  never  seen  more,  and  that  it  never  has  been  ascertained 
what  became  of  him. 

It  is  stated,  however,  by  Ramusio,  that  when  Verrazzano 
landed,  he  and  the  people  who  went  ashore  with  him 
were  cut  to  pieces  and  devoured  by  the  savages,  in  the  sight 
of  the  rest  of  the  crew,  who  had  remained  on  board  the  ship, 
and  were  unable  to  help  them.  This  last  story  is  believed 
both  by  Dr.  Forster  and  Dr.  Belknap. 


HEJ^-RY   HUDSON.  135 

possibly  interesting  to  older  readers,  and  to  your- 
selves hereafter — and  I  therefore  give,  in  an  ap- 
pendix, the  entire  letter  of  John  de  Verrazzano 
to  the  King  of  France,  that  every  one  may  judge 
fairly  for  himself,  who  was  the  discoverer  of  what 
is  now  the  State  of  New  York.  The  style  and 
spelling  of  the  letter  are  quaint  and  old  fashioned, 
but  I  prefer  publishing  it  precisely  as  it  is  written. 


APPENDIX. 


TO  THE  MOST  CHRISTIAN  KING  OF  FRANCE, 
FRANCIS  THE  FIRST. 

THE  RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO,  A  FLOREN- 
TINE, OF  THE  LAND  BY  HIM  DISCOUERED  IN  THE 
NAME  OF  HIS  MAIESTIE.  WRITTEN  IN  DIEPE,  THE 
EIGHT  OF  JULY,   1524.* 

I  ^VROTE  not  to  your  Maiesty,  most  Christian 
King,  since  the  time  we  suffered  the  Tempest  in 
the  North  partes,  of  the  successe  of  the  foure 
shippes,  which  your  Maiestie  sent  forth  to  dis- 
couer  new  lands  by  the  Ocean,  thinking  your 
Maiestie  had  bene  ah'eady  duely  enformed 
thereof  Now  by  these  presents  I  will  give  your 
Maiestie  to  understand,  how  by  the  violence  of 
the  Windes  we  were  forced  with  the  two  shippes, 
the  Norman  and  the  Dolphin,  (in  such  euill  case 
as  they  were,)  to  land  in  Britaine.     Where  after 

*  Taken  from  Hakluyt's  Voyages. 

12* 


138  APPENDIX. 

wee  had  repayred  them  in  all  poynts  as  was 
needefull.  and  armed  them  very  well,  we  took 
our  course  along  by  the  coast  of  Spaine,  which 
your  IVIaiestie  shall  understand  by  the  profite 
that  we  receiued  thereby.  Afterwards  with  the 
Dolphin  alone  we  determined  to  make  discouerie 
of  new  Countries,  to  prosecute  the  Nauigation 
we  had  already  begun,  which  I  purpose  at  this 
present  to  recount  unto  your  Maiestie,  to  make 
manifest  the  whole  proceeding  of  the  matter. 

The  17  of  January,  the  yeere  1524,  by  the 
Grace  of  God,  we  departed  from  the  dishabited 
rocke  by  the  isle  of  Madeira,  apperteining  to  the 
King  of  Portugal,  with  50  men,  with  victuals, 
weapons,  and  other  ship-munition  very  well  pro- 
uided  and  furnished  for  eight  months ;  and  sail- 
ing Westward  with  a  faire  Easterly  winde,  in 
25  dayes  we  ran  500  leagues,  and  the  20  of 
Februarie,  we  were  ouertaken  with  as  sharpe 
and  terrible  a  tempest  as  euer  any  saylers  suf- 
fered, whereof  with  the  diuine  helpe  and  merci- 
full  assistance  of  Almighty  God,  and  the  good- 
nesse  of  our  shippe,  accompanied  with  the  good 
happe  of  her  fortunate  name,  we  were  deliuered, 
and  with  a  prosperous  winde  followed  our  course 
West  and  by  North.  And  in  other  25  dayes 
we  made  aboue  400  leagues  more,  where  we 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  YERRAZZANO.    139 

discouered  a  new  land,  neuer  before  seene  of  any 
man  either  ancient  or  moderne,  and  at  the  first 
sight  it  seemed  somewhat  low,  but  being  within 
a  quarter  of  a  league  of  it,  we  perceiued  by  the 
great  fires  that  we  saw  by  the  sea-coast,  that  it 
was  inhabited  ;  and  saw  that  the  lande  stretched 
to  the  southwards.  In  seeking  some  conuenient 
harborough,  wherein  to  anchor  and  to  have 
knowledge  of  the  place,  we  sayled  fiftie  leagues 
in  vaine,  and  seeing  the  lande  to  runne  still  to 
the  southwards,  we  resolved  to  returne  backe 
againe  towards  the  north,  where  wee  found  our 
selves  troubled  with  the  like  difficultie.  At 
length,  being  in  despaire  to  find  any  porte,  wee 
cast  anchor  upon  the  coast  and  sent  our  boate 
to  shore,  where  we  saw  great  store  of  people 
w^hich  came  to  the  seaside ;  and  seeing  us  ap- 
proch,  they  fled  away,  and  sometimes  would 
stand  still  and  looke  backe,  beholding  us  with 
great  admiration;  but, afterwards, being  animated 
and  assured  with  signes  that  we  made  them, 
some  of  them  came  hard  to  the  seaside,  seeming 
to  reioyce  very  much  at  the  sight  of  us,  and 
marvelling  greatly  at  our  apparel,  shape  and 
vrhitenesse,  shewed  us  by  sundry  signes,  where 
we  might  most  commodiously  come  aland  with 
our  boate,  offering  us  also  of  their  victuals  to 


140  APPENDIX. 

eat.  Now  I  will  briefly  declare  to  your  Maies- 
tie  their  life  and  maners.  as  farre  as  we  could 
have  notice  thereof:  These  people  goe  alto- 
gether naked,  except  only  that  they  couer  their 
loines  with  certain  skins  of  beastes,  like  unto 
marterns.  which  they  fasten  unto  a  narrow  gir- 
dle made  of  grasse  very  artificially  wrought, 
hanged  about  with  tayles  of  divers  :ther  beastes, 
which,  round  about  their  bodies,  hang  danghng 
down  to  their  knees.  Some  of  them  weare  gar- 
lands of  byrdes  feathers.  The  people  are  of 
colour  russet,  and  not  much  unlike  the  Saracens ; 
their  hayre  blacke,  thicke,  and  not  very  long, 
which  they  tye  together  in  a  knot  behind,  and 
weare  it  like  a  little  taile.  They  are  well  fea- 
tured in  their  limbes,  of  meane  stature,  and  com- 
monly somewhat  bigger  than  wee,  broad  breast- 
ed, strong  armed,  their  legs  and  other  parts  of 
their  bodies  well  fashioned,  and  they  are  dis- 
figured in  nothing,  sauing  that  they  haue  some- 
what broade  visages,  and  yet  not  all  of  them, 
for  we  saw  many  of  them  wel  favoured,  hauing 
blacke  and  great  eyes,  with  a  cheerefull  and 
steady  looke,  not  strong  of  body,  yet  sharpe  wit- 
ted,  nimble  and  exceeding  great  runners,  as  farre 
as  we  could  learne  by  experience,  and  in  those 
two  last  qualities  they  are  like  to  the  people  of 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.    141 

the  east  partes  of  the  world,  and  especially  to 
them  of  the  uttermost  parts  of  China.  We 
could  not  learne  of  this  people  their  manner  of 
liuing,  nor  their  particular  customs,  by  reason  of 
the  short  abode  we  made  on  the  shore,  our  com- 
pany being  but  small,  and  our  ship  ryding  farre 
off  in  the  sea.  And  not  farre  from  these  we 
found  another  people,  whose  lining  wee  think 
to  be  like  unto  theirs  (as  hereafter  I  will  declare 
unto  your  Maiestie)  shewing  at  this  present  the 
situation  and  nature  of  the  foresayd  land.  The 
shoare  is  all  couered  with  small  sand,  and  so 
ascendeth  upwards  for  the  space  of  15  foote, 
rising  in  form  of  little  hils,  about  50  paces 
broad.  And  sayling  forwards,  we  found  cer- 
taine  small  rivers  and  armes  of  the  sea,  that  fall 
downe  by  certaine  creeks,  washing  the  shoare  on 
both  sides  as  the  coast  lyeth.  And  beyond  this 
we  saw  the  open  country  rising  in  height  above 
the  sandy  shoare,  with  many  faire  fields  and 
plaines,  full  of  mightie  great  woods,  some  very 
thicke,  and  some  thinne,  replenished  with  diuers 
sorts  of  trees  as  pleasant  and  delectable  to  be- 
hold, as  is  possible  to  imagine.  And  your  Ma- 
iestie may  not  thinke  that  these  are  like  the 
woods  of  Hercynia  or  the  wilde  deserts  of  Tar- 
tary,  and  the  northerne  coasts,  full  of  fruitlesse 


142  APPENDIX. 

trees;  but  they  are  full  of  palme  trees,  bay 
trees,  and  high  cypresse  trees,  and  many  other 
sorts  of  trees  unknowen  in  Europe,  which  yeeld 
most  sweete  sauours  farre  from  the  shoare,  the 
propertie  whereof  we  could  not  learn  for  the 
cause  aforesaid,  and  not  for  any  difficulty  to  passe 
through  the  woods,  seeing  they  are  not  si  thicke 
but  that  a  man  may  passe  through  them,  neither 
doe  we  thinke  that  they  partaking  of  the  east 
W'orld  round  about  them,  are  altogether  voyd  of 
drugs  or  spicery,  and  other  riches  of  golde,  see- 
ing the  colour  of  the  land  doth  so  much  argue 
it.  And  the  land  is  full  of  many  beastes,  as 
stags,  deere  and  hares,  and  likewise  of  lakes  and 
pooles  of  fresh  water,  with  great  plentie  of 
fowles,  convenient  for  all  kinde  of  pleasant 
game.  This  land  is  in  latitude  34  degrees,  with 
good  and  wholesome  ayre,  temperate,  betweene 
hot  and  colde ;  no  vehement  windes  doe  blowe 
in  those  regions,  and  those  that  doe  commonly 
reig^ne  in  those  coasts,  are  the  north  west  and 
west  windes  in  the  summer  season,  (in  the  be- 
ginning whereof  we  were  there)  the  skie  cleere 
and  faire  with  very  little  raine ;  and  if  at  any 
time  the  ayre  be  cloudie  and  mistie  with  the 
southerne  winde,  immediately  it  is*dissolued  and 
vvareth  cleere   and  fayre   againe.     The  sea  is 


KELATIOxV  OF  JOHN  DE  VERKAZZANO.  143 

calme,  not  boysterous,  the  waues  gentle,  and 
although  all  the  shoare  be  somewhat  sholde  and 
without  harborough,  yet  it  is  not  dangerous  to 
the  saylers,  being  free  from  rocks  and  deepe,  so 
that  within  4  or  5  foote  of  the  shoare  there  is  20 
foote  deepe  of  water  without  ebbe  or  flood,  the 
depth  still  increasing  in  such  uniform  proportion. 
There  is  very  good  ryding  at  sea,  for  any  ship 
being  shaken  in  a  tempest,  can  neuer  perish  there 
by  breaking  of  her  cables,  which  we  have 
proved  by  experience.  For  in  the  beginning  of 
March  (as  it  is  usual  in  all  regions)  being  in  the 
sea  oppressed  with  northerne  windes,  and  ryding 
there,  we  found  our  anchor  broken  before  the 
earth  fayled  or  moved  at  all.  We  departed  from 
this  place,  still  running  along  the  coast,  which 
we  found  to  trend  toward  the  east,  and  we  saw 
every  where  very  great  fires,  by  reason  of  the 
multitude  of  the  inhabitants.  While  we  rode 
on  that  coast,  partly  because  it  had  no  harbo- 
rough, and  for  that  we  wanted  water,  we  sent 
our  boat  ashoare  with  25  men  ;  where,  by  rea- 
son of  great  and  continual  waues  that  beat 
against  the  shoare,  being  an  open  coast,  without 
succour,  none  of  our  men  could  possibly  goe 
ashoare  without  loosing  our  boate.  We  saw 
there  many  people  which  came  unto  the  shoarej 


144  APPENDIX. 

making  diuers  signes  of  friendship,  and  shewing 
that  they  were  content  we  should  come  aland, 
and  by  trial  we  found  them  to  be  very  corteous 
and  gentle,  as  your  Maiestie  shall  understand  by 
the  successe.  To  the  intent  we  might  send  them 
of  our  things,  which  the  Indians  commonly  de- 
sire and  esteeme,  as  sheetes  of  paper,  glasses, 
bels,  and  such  like  trifles,  we  sent  a  young  man 
one  of  our  mariners  ashoare,  who  swimming 
towards  them,  and  being  within  3  or  4  yards  of 
the  shoare,  not  trusting  them,  cast  the  things 
upon  the  shoare ;  but  seeking  afterwards  to  re- 
turne,  he  was  with  such  violence  of  the  waues 
beaten  upon  the  shoare,  that  he  was  so  bruised 
that  he  lay  there  almost  dead ;  which  the  In- 
dians perceiuing,  ranne  to  catch  him,  and  draw- 
ing him  out,  they  caried  him  a  litle  way  oiF 
from  the  sea.  The  young  man  perceiuing  they 
caried  him,  being  at  the  first  dismaied,  began 
then  greatly  to  feare,  and  cried  out  piteously ; 
likewise  did  the  Indians* which  did  accompany 
him,  going  about  to  cheere  him  and  to  giue  him 
courage,  and  then  setting  him  on  the  ground  at 
the  foote  of  a  litle  hil  against  the  sunne,  they 
began  to  behold  him  with  great  admiration, 
marueiling  at  the  whitenesse  of  his  flesh ;  and 
{)utting  off  his  clothes,  they  made  him  warme  at 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VEKRAZZANO.  145 

a  great  fire,  not  without  our  great  feare  which 
remained  in  the  boate,  that  they  w^oukl  have 
rosted  him  at  that  fire,  and  have  eaten  him. 
The  young  man  hauing  recouered  his  strength, 
and  hauing  stayed  a  while  wdth  them,  shewed 
them  by  signes  that  he  was  desirous  to  returne 
to  the  ship,  and  they  with  great  loue  clapping 
him  fast  about,  with  many  embraeings,  accom- 
panying him  unto  the  sea,  and  to  put  him  in 
more  assurance,  leaving  him  alone,  went  unto 
a  high  ground,  and  stood  there,  beholding  him 
untill  he  was  entred  into  the  boate.  This  young 
man  obserued,  as  w^e  did  also,  that  these  are  of 
colour  inclining  to  blacke  as  the  other  w^ere,  with 
their  flesh  very  shining,  of  meane  stature,  hand- 
some visage,  and  delicate  limnes,  and  of  very 
little  strength,  but  of  prompt  wit,  farther  we 
observed  not. 

Departing  from  hence,  following  the  shore 
which  trended  somewhat  toward  the  north,  in  50 
leagues  space  w^e  came  to  another  land  which 
shewed  much  more  faire  and  ful  of  woods,  being 
very  great,  where  we  rode  at  anker ;  and  that 
we  might  have  some  knowledge  thereof,  we  sent 
20  men  aland,  which  entred  into  the  country 
about  2  leagues,  and  they  found  that  the  people 
were  fled  to  the  woods  for  feare.  They  saw 
13 


146  APPENDIX. 

only  one  old  woman,  ^vith  a  young  maid  of  18 
or  20  yeeres  old,  ^vhich  seeing  our  company,  hid 
themselves  in  the  grasse  for  feare ;  the  olde 
woman  caried  two  infants  on  her  shoulders,  and 
behind  her  necke  a  child  of  8  yeeres  olde.  The 
young  woman  was  laden  likewise  with  as  many, 
but  when  our  men  came  unto  them,  the  women 
cried  out,  the  olde  woman  made  signes  that  the 
men  were  fledde  unto  the  woods.  As  soone  as 
they  saw  us  to  quiet  them  and  to  wdn  their  fa- 
vour, our  men  gave  them  such  victuals  as  they 
had  with  them,  to  eate,  which  the  olde  woman 
received  thankfully,  but  the  young  woman  dis- 
dained them  all,  and  threw  them  disdainfully  on 
the  ground.  They  tooke  a  child  from  the  olde 
woman  to  bring  into  France,  and  going  about 
to  take  the  young  woman  which  was  very  beau- 
tiful and  of  tall  stature,  they  could  not  possibly 
for  the  great  outcries  that  she  made  bring  her  to 
the  sea ;  and  especially  having  great  woods  to 
passe  thorow^,  and  being  farre  from  the  ship,  we 
purposed  to  leaue  her  behind,  beareing  away  the 
child  onely;  we  found  those  folkes  to  be  more 
white  than  those  that  we  found  before,  being  clad 
with  certaine  leaues  that  hang  on  boughs  of 
trees,  which  they  sew  together  with  threds  of 
wilde  hempe  j  their  heads  were  trussed  up  after 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZAXO.  147 

the  same  maner  as  the  former  were,  their  ordi- 
nary foode  is  of  pulse,  whereof  they  haue  great 
store,  differing  in  colour  and  taste  from  ours ;  of 
good  and  pleasant  taste.  Moreover  they  live 
by  fishing  and  fowling,  which  they  take  with 
ginnies,  and  bowes  made  of  hard  wood,  the  ar- 
rowes  of  canes,  being  headed  with  the  bones  of 
fish  and  other  beastes.  The  beastes  in  these 
partes  are  much  wilder  then  in  our  Europe,  by 
reason  they  are  continually  chased  and  hunted 
We  saw  many  of  their  boates,  made  of  one  tree 
20  foote  long  and  4  foote  broad,  which  are  not 
made  with  yron  or  stone,  or  any  other  kind  of 
metall  (because  that  in  all  this  country  for  the 
space  of  200  leagues  which  we  ranne,  we  neuer 
saw  one  stone  of  any  sort :)  they  help  them- 
selues  with  fire,  burning  so  much  of  the  tree  as 
is  sufficient  for  the  hollownesse  of  the  boate. 
The  like  they  doe  in  making  the  sterne  and  the 
foreparte,  until  it  be  fit  to  saile  upon  the  sea. 
The  land  is  in  situation,  goodness  and  fairnesse 
like  the  other;  it  hath  woods  like  the  other, 
thinne  and  full  of  diuers  sorts  of  trees,  but  not 
so  sweete,  because  the  country  is  more  northerly 
and  colde. 

We  saw  in  this  country  many  vines  growing 
naturally,  which  growing  up,  took  holde  of  the 


148  APPENDIX. 

trees  as  they  doe  in  Lombardle,  which,  it  by 
husbandmen  they  were  dressed  in  good  order, 
without  all  doubt  they  would  yeeld  excellent 
wines;  for  hauing  oftentimes  seene  the  fruit 
thereof  dryed,  which  was  sweete  and  pleasant, 
and  not  differing  from  ours,  we  thinke  that  they 
doe  esteeme  the  same,  because  that  in  euery 
place  where  they  growe,  they  take  away  the  un- 
der branches  growing  round  about,  that  the  frui 
thereof  may  ripen  the  better.  We  found  also 
roses,  violets,  lilies,  and  many  sortes  of  herbes, 
and  sweete  and  odoriferous  flowers  different  from 
ours.  We  knewe  not  their  dwellings,  because 
they  were  farre  up  in  the  land,  and  we  iudge  by 
many  signes  that  we  saw,  that  they  are  of  wood 
and  of  trees  framed  together.  We  doe  belieue 
also  by  many  conjectures  and  signes,  that  many 
of  them  sleeping  in  the  fields,  have  no  other 
couert  then  the  open  sky.  Farther  knowledge 
haue  we  not  of  them ;  we  think  that  all  the  rest 
whose  countreys  we  passed,  liue  all  after  one 
maner.  Hauing  made  our  aboade  three  days  in 
this  country,  and  ryding  on  the  coast  for  want  of 
harboroughs,  we  concluded  to  depart  from  thence 
trending  along  the  shore  betweene  the  north 
and  the  east,  sayeling  onely  in  the  day  time,  and 
ryding  at  anker  by  night.     In  the  space  of  100 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  »E  VERRAZZANO.  149 

leagues  sayllng  we  found  a  very  pleasant  place 
situated  among  certaine  little  steape  hils ;  from 
amidst  the  which  hils  there  ranne  downe  into 
the  sea  an  exceeding  great  streme  of  water, 
which  within  the  mouth  was  very  deepe,  and 
from  the  sea  to  the  mouth  of  the  same  with  the 
tide  which  we  found  to  rise  8  foote,  any  great 
ship  laden  may  passe  up.  But  because  we  rode 
at  anker  in  a  place  well  fenced  from  the  wind 
w^e  would  not  venture  ourselues  without  know- 
ledge of  the  place,  and  we  passed  up  with  our 
boate  onely  into  the  sayd  river,  and  saw  the 
countrey  very  well  peopled.  The  people  are 
almost  like  unto  the  others,  and  are  clade  with 
the  feathers  of  fowles  of  diuers  colours  ;  they 
came  towards  us  very  cheerefully,  making  great 
showts  of  admiration,  shewing  us  where  we 
might  come  to  land  most  safely  with  our  boate. 
We  entered  up  the  said  riuer  into  the  land  about 
halfe  a  league,  where  it  made  a  most  pleasant 
lake  aboute  3  leagues  in  compasse,  on  the  which 
they  rowed  from  the  one  side  to  the  other,  to 
the  number  of  30  of  their  small  boats,  wherein 
were  many  people  which  passed  from  one  shore 
to  the  other  to  come  and  see  us.  And,  behold, 
upon  a  sudden  (as  it  is  woont  to  fall  out  in  sayl- 
ing)  a  contrary  flaw  of  winde  comming  from  the 
13* 


150  APPENDIX. 

sea,  we  were  inforced  to  returne  to  our  ship, 
leauing  this  land  to  our  great  discontentment,  for 
the  great  commodity  and  pleasantnesse  thereof, 
which  we  suppose  is  not  without  some  riches, 
all  the  hils  shew^ing  mineral  matters  in  them. 
We  weyed  anker  and  sayled  toward  the  east, 
for  so  the  coast  trended,  and  so  alwayes  for  50 
leagues  being  in  the  sight  thereof,  we  discouered 
an  island  in  forme  of  a  triangle,  distant  from 
the  main  land  10  leagues  about  the  bignesse  of 
the  island  of  the  Rhodes;  it  was  full  of  hils 
covered  with  trees,  well  peopled,  for  we  saw 
fires  all  along  the  coast ;  we  gave  it  the  name 
of  your  Maiesties  mother,*  not  staying  there  by 
reason  of  the  weather  being  contrary. 

And  we  came  to  another  land  being  15  leagues 
distant  from  the  island,  where  we  found  a  pass- 
ing good  hauen,  wherein  being  entred,  we  found 
about  20  small  boats  of  the  people,  which  \vith 
diuers  cries  and  wondrings  came  about  our  ship, 
comming  no  neerer  than  50  paces  tow^ards  us ; 
they  stayed  and  beheld  the  artificialnesse  of 
our  ship,  our  shape  and  apparel,  they  then  all 
made  a  loud  showt  together,  declaring  that  they 
reioyced.     When  we  had  something  animated 

*  Claudian   Island.     Claudia   was    the    mother    of  King 
Francis. 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.     151 

them,  using  their  gestures  they  came  so  neere  us, 
that  we  cast  them  certaine  bels  and  glasses,  and 
many  toyes,  which  when  they  had  received,  they 
looked  on  them  with  laughing,  and  came  with- 
out feare  a  board  our  ship.  There  were  amongst 
these  people  2  kings  of  so  goodly  stature  and 
shape  as  is  possible  to  declare,  the  eldest  was 
about  40  yeeres  of  age,  the  seconde  was  a  yong 
man  of  20  yeeres  olde,  their  apparell  was  on 
this  manner,  the  elder  had  upon  his  naked  body 
a  harts  skin  wrought  artificially  with  diuers 
branches  like  damaske,  his  head  was  bayre  with 
the  hayre  tyed  up  behind  with  diuers  knots ; 
about  his  necke  he  had  a  large  chaine,  garnish- 
ed with  diuers  stones  of  sundry  colours,  the 
young  man  was  almost  apparelled  after  the  same 
maner.  This  is  the  goodliest  people,  and  of 
the  fairest  conditions  that  we  have  found  in  this 
our  voyage.  They  exceed  us  in  bigness,  they 
are  of  the  colour  of  brasse,  some  of  them  incline 
more  to  whitenesse,  others  are  of  yellow  colour, 
of  comely  visage,  with  long  and  black  hair, 
which  they  are  very  careful  to  trim  and  decke 
up ;  they  are  black  and  quick  eyed,  and  of  sweete 
and  pleasant  countenance,  imitating  much  the 
old  fashion.  I  write  not  to  your  Maiestie  of  the 
other  parts  of  their  body,  hauing  al  such  propor- 


152  APPENDIX. 

tion  as  apperteeneth  to  any  handsome  man.  The 
women  are  of  the  hke  conformitie  and  beautie, 
very  handsome  and  wel  favoured,  of  pleasant 
countenance,  and  comely  to  behold ;  they  are  as 
wel  manered  and  continent  as  any  women,  and 
of  good  education,  they  are  all  naked  saue  their 
loines,  which  they  couer  with  a  deeres  skin 
branched  or  embrodered  as  the  men  use,  there 
are  also  of  them  which  weare  on  their  armes 
uery  rich  skins  of  Luzernes,  they  adorne  their 
heads  with  diuers  ornaments  made  of  their  owne 
hair,  which  hang  downe  before  on  both  sides 
their  brestes,  others  use  other  kind  of  dressing 
themselues  like  unto  the  women  of  Egypt  and 
Syria,  these  are  of  the  elder  sort ;  and  when 
they  are  maried,  they  wear  diuers  toyes,  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  the  people  of  the  east,  as 
well  men  as  women. 

Among  whom  we  saw  many  peices  of  Avrought 
copper,  which  they  esteeme  more  than  goolde, 
which  for  the  colour  they  make  no  account,  for 
that  among  all  other  it  is  counted  the  basest; 
they  make  most  account  of  azure  and  red.  The 
things  that  they  esteeme  most  of  all  those  which 
we  gaue  them,  were  bels,  christal  of  azure  colour, 
and  other  toyes  to  hang  at  their  eares  or  about 
their  necke.     They  did  not  desire  clothe  of  silke 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.    153 

or  of  golde,  much  lesse  of  any  other  sort,  nei- 
ther cared  they  for  thyngs  made  of  Steele  and 
yron,  which  we  often  shewed  them  in  our  armour 
which  they  made  no  wonder  at ;  and  in  behold- 
ing them  they  onely  asked  the  arte,  of  making 
them  ;  the  like  they  did  at  our  glasses,  w^hich, 
when  they  beheld,  they  suddenly  laug;ht,  and 
gave  them  us  againe.  They  are  very  liberal, 
for  they  give  that  W'hich  they  haue  ;  w^e  became 
great  friends  with  these,  and  one  day  we  entred 
into  the  haven  with  our  ship,  whereas  before  we 
rode  a  league  oif  at  sea,  by  reason  of  the  contrary 
weather.  They  came  in  great  companies  of  their 
small  boats  unto  the  ship  with  their  faces  all 
bepainted  with  diuers  colours,  shewing  us  that 
it  w^as  a  signe  of  ioy,  bringing  us  of  their  vic- 
tuals, they  made  signes  unto  us  where  we  might 
safest  ride  in  the  hauen  for  the  safeguard  of  our 
ship  keeping  still  our  company,  and  after  we 
were  come  to  an  anker,  we  bestowed  15  dayes  in 
prouiding  ourselues  many  necessary  things, 
whither  euery  day  the  people  repaired  to  see  our 
ship,  bringing  their  wiues  with  them,  whereof 
they  were  veiy  ielous  ;  and  they  themselves  en- 
tring  a  board  the  ship  and  staying  there  a  good 
space  caused  their  wdues  to  stay  in  their  boats, 
and  for  all  the  entreatie  we  could  make,  ofFring 


154  APPENDIX 

to  giue  them  diners  things,  we  could  neuer  ob- 
taine  that  they  would  suffer  them  to  comeaborde 
our  ship.  And  oftentimes  one  of  the  two  kings 
comming  with  his  queene,  and  many  gentlemen 
for  their  pleasure  to  see  us,  they  all  stayed  on  the 
shore  200  paces  from  us,  sending  us  a  small  boat 
to  giue  us  intelligence  of  their  comming,  saying 
they  would  come  and  see  our  ship  ;  this  they  did 
in  token  of  safety,  and  as  soone  as  they  had  an- 
swere  from  us,  they  came  immediately,  and  hau- 
ing  staled  a  while  to  behold  it,  they  wondred  at 
hearing  the  cries  and  noyses  of  the  Mariners 
The  Queene  and  her  maids  staled  in  a  very  light 
boat,  at  an  Hand  a  quarter  of  a  league  off,  while 
the  King  abode  a  long  space  in  our  ship  uttering 
diuers  conceits  with  gestures,  viewing  with  great 
admiration  all  the  furniture  of  the  Shippe,  de- 
manding the  property  of  euery  thing  particularly 
He  tooke  likewise  great  pleasure  in  beholding 
our  apparell,  and  in  tasting  our  meats,  and  so 
courteously  taking  his  leave  departed.  And 
sometimes  our  men  staying  2  or  3  daies  on  a  little 
Hand  neere  the  Shippe  for  diuers  necessaries, 
(as  it  is  the  use  of  seamen,)  he  returned  with  7 
or  8  of  his  gentlemen  to  see  what  we  did,  and 
asked  of  us  oftentimes  if  we  meant  to  make  any 
long  abode  there,  offering  us  of  their  prouision  ; 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.  155 

ihen  the  King  drawing  his  bow  and  running  up 
and  down  with  his  gentlemen,  made  much  sport 
to  gratifie  our  men :  we  were  oftentimes  within 
the  land  five  or  six  leagues,  which  we  found  as 
pleasant  as  is  possible  to  declare,  very  apt  for 
any  kind  of  husbandry,  of  Corne,  Wine  and  Oyle 
for  that  there  are  plaines  twentie-five  or  thirtie 
leagues  broad,  open  and  without  any  impediment, 
of  trees  of  such  fruitfulnesse,  that  any  seed  being 
sowen  therein,  wil  bring  forth  most  excellent 
fruit.  We  entered  afterwards  into  the  woods, 
which  we  found  so  great  and  thicke,  that  any 
army  were  it  neuer  so  great  might  have  hid  it 
selfe  therein,  the  trees  whereof  are  okes,  cipresse 
trees,  and  other  sortes  unknowen  in  Europe. 
We  found  Pome  appil,  damson  trees,  and  nut 
trees,  and  many  other  sortes  of  fruit  differing 
from  ours ;  there  are  beasts  in  great  abundance, 
as  harts,  deere,  luzernes,  and  other  kinds  which 
they  take  with  their  nets  and  bowes  which  are 
their  chief  weapons,  the  arrowes  which  they  use 
are  made  of  great  cunning,  and  instead  of  yron, 
they  head  them  with  Hint,  with  jasper  stone  and 
hard  marble,  and  other  sharp  stones  which  they 
use  instead  of  yron  to  cut  trees,  and  to  make 
their  boates  of  one  whole  piece  of  wood  making 
it  hollow  with  great  and  wonderful  art,  wherein 


156  APPENDIX. 

10  or  12  men  may  sit  commodiously,  their  oares 
are  short  and  broad  at  the  end,  and  they  use 
them  in  the  sea  without  any  danger,  and  by 
maine  force  of  armes,  with  as  great  speediness 
as  they  lift  themselves.  We  saw  their  Houses 
made  in  circular  or  round  forme  10  or  12  paces 
in  compasse,  made  with  halfe  circles  of  Timber, 
separate  one  from  another  without  any  order  of 
building,  couered  with  mattes  of  Straw  wrought 
cunningly  together,  which  saue  them  from  the 
winde  and  raine;  and  if  they  had  the  order  of 
building  and  perfect  skill  of  workmanship  as  we 
have,  there  were  no  doubt  but  that  they  would 
also  make  eftsoons  great  and  stately  buildings. 
For  all  the  sea  coastes  are  ful  of  clear  and  glis- 
tering stones  and  alabaster,  and  therefore  it  is 
ful  of  good  hauens  and  harboroughs  for  Shippes. 
They  moove  the  foresaid  Houses  from  one  place 
to  another,  according  to  the  commodity  of  the  place 
and  season  wherein  they  wil  make  their  abode ; 
and  only  taking  off  the  mattes  they  haue  other 
Houses  builded  incontinent.  The  Father  and 
the  whole  Family  dwell  together  in  one  house 
in  great  number,  in  some  of  them  we  saw  25  or 
30  persons.  They  feede  as  the  other  doe  afore- 
said, of  pulse  which  grow  in  that  Country,  with 
better  order  of  husbandry  than  in  the  others. 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.    157 

They  observe  in  their  sowing  the  course  of  the 
Moone  and  the  rising  of  certaine  Starres,  and 
divers  other  customs  spoken  of  by  antiquity. 
Moreover  they  hue  by  hunting  and  fishing.  They 
hve  long  and  are  seldom  sicke,  and  if  they 
chance  to  fall  sicke  at  any  time,  they  heal 
themselves  with  fire  without  any  phisician,  and 
they  say  that  they  die  for  very  age.  They 
are  very  pitlfull  and  charitable  towards  their 
neighbours,  they  make  great  lamentations  in 
their  adversitie,  and  in  their  miserie,  the  kin- 
red  reckon  up  all  their  felicitie.  At  their  de- 
parture out  of  life,  they  use  mourning  mixt  with 
singing,  which  continueth  for  a  long  space. 
This  is  as  much  as  we  could  learne  of  them.  This 
Land  is  situate  in  the  Paralele  of  Rome  in  41 
degrees  and  2  terces,  but  somewhat  more  cold 
by  accidentall  causes  and  not  of  nature,  (as  I 
will  declare  unto  your  highnesse  elsewhere,)  de- 
scribing at  this  present  the  situation  of  the  fore- 
said country,  which  lieth  east  and  west.  I  say 
that  the  mouth  of  the  haven  lieth  open  to  the 
south  halfe  a  league  broad,  and  being  entred 
within  it  betweene  the  east  and  the  north  it 
stretcheth  twelve  leagues,  where  it  wareth  broad- 
er and  broader,  and  rnaketh  a  gulfe  about  20 
leagues  in  compasse,  wherein  are  five  small 
14 


158  APPENDIX. 

islands  very  fruitful  and  pleasant,  full  of  hie  and 
broad  trees  among  the  which  islandes  any  great 
nauie  may  ride  safe  without  any  feare  of  tempest 
or  other  danorer.  Afterwards  turninsf  towards 
the  south  in  the  entring  into  the  hauen,  on  both 
sides  there  are  most  pleasant  hils,  with  many 
riuers  of  most  cleare  water  falling  into  the  sea. 
In  the  middest  of  this  entrance  there  is  a  rocke 
of  free  stone,  growing  by  nature,  apt  to  build  any 
castle  or  fortresse  there  for  the  keeping  of  the 
haven.  The  lift  of  May  being  furnished  with 
all  things  necessarie,  we  departed  from  the  said 
coaste,  keeping  along  in  the  sight  thereof,  and  wee 
sailed  150  leagues,  finding  it  alwayes  after  one 
maner,  but  the  land  somewhat  higher  with  cer- 
taine  mountaines,  all  which  beare  a  shew  of 
minerall  matter,  wee  sought  not  to  land  there  in 
any  place,  because  the  weather  serued  our  turne 
for  sailing ;  but  wee  suppose  that  it  was  like 
the  former,  the  coaste  ranne  eastward  for  the 
space  of  fiftie  leagues.  And  trending  afterwards 
to  the  north,  wee  found  another  land  high  full 
of  thicke  woods,  the  trees  whereof  were  firres, 
cipresses,  and  such  like  as  are  wont  to  grow  in 
cold  countreys.  The  people  differ  much  from 
the  other,  and  looke  howe  much  the  former  seem- 
ed to  be  courteous  and  gentle,  so  much  were 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.  159 

these  full  of  rudenesse  and  ill  raaners,  and  so 
barbarous  that  by  no  signes  that  euer  we  could 
make,  we  could  have  any  kind  of  traffic  with 
them.  They  clothe  themselues  with  beares 
skinnes  and  luzernes,  and  scales  and  other 
beastes  skinnes.  Their  foode,  as  farre  as  we 
could  perceiue,  repairing  often  unto  their  dwell- 
ings, we  suppose  to  be  by  hunting  and  fishing, 
and  of  certaine  fruits,  which  are  a  kind  of  roots 
which  the  earth  yeeldeth  of  her  own  accord. 
They  haue  no  graine,  neither  saw  we  any  kind 
of  signe  of  tillage,  neither  is  the  land  for  the  bar- 
rennesse  thereof,  apt  to  beare  fruit  or  seed.  If 
at  any  time  we  desired  by  exchange  to  haue 
any  of  their  commodities,  they  used  to  come  to 
the  sea  shore  upon  certaine  craggy  rocks,  and 
we  standing  in  our  boats,  they  let  downe  with 
a  rope  what  it  pleased  them  to  give  us,  crying 
continually  that  we  should  not  approch  to  the 
land,  demanding  immediately  the  exchange,  tak- 
ing nothing  but  kniues,  fish-hooks,  and  tooles  to 
cut  withall,  neyther  did  they  make  any  account 
of  our  courtesie.  And  when  we  had  nothing 
left  to  exchange  with  them,  when  we  departed 
from  them,  the  people  shewed  all  signes  of  dis- 
courtesie  and  disdaine,  as  were  possible  for  any 
creature  to  inuent.     We  were  in  despight  of 


160  APPENDIX. 

them  2  or  3  leagues  within  the  land,  beinor  in 
numbei  twenty-five  armed  men  of  us:  And 
when  we  went  on  shore  they  shot  at  us  with 
their  bowes,  making  great  outcries,  and  after- 
wards iled  into  the  woods.  We  found  not  in 
this  land  any  thing  notable  or  of  importance, 
sauing  very  great  wood  and  certaine  hills,  they 
may  haue  some  mineral  matter  in  them,  because 
wee  saw  many  of  them  haue  headstones  of  copper 
hanging  at  their  eares.  We  departed  from 
thence,  keeping  our  course  north  east  along  the 
coaste,  which  we  found  more  pleasant  champion 
and  without  woods,  with  high  mountains  within 
the  land ;  continuing  directly  along  the  coast  for 
the  space  of  fiftie  leagues,  we  discouered  32 
islands,  lying  al  neere  the  land,  being  small  and 
pleasaftt  to  the  view,  high,  and  having  many 
turnings  and  windings  between  them,  making 
many  fair  harboroughs  and  chanels  as  they  doe 
in  the  gulf  of  Venice,  in  Sclauonia  and  Dal- 
matia,  we  had  no  knowledge  or  acquaintance 
with  the  people :  we  suppose  they  are  of  the 
same  maners  and  nature  as  the  others  are.  Sayl- 
ing  north  east  for  the  space  of  150  leagues,  we 
approched  the  land  that  was  in  times  past  dis- 
couered by  the  Britons,  which  is  in  fiftie  de- 
grees.   Hauing  now  spent  all  our  prouision  and 


RELATION  OF  JOHN  DE  VERRAZZANO.    161 

victuals,  and  hauing  discouered  about  700  leagues 
and  more  of  new  countreys,  and  being  furnished 
with  water  and  wood,  we  concluded  to  returne 
into  France.  Touching  the  religion  of  this  peo- 
ple which  we  have  found,  for  want  of  their  lan- 
guage we  could  not  understand,  neither  by  signes 
nor  gestures,  that  they  had  any  religion  or  laws 
at  all,  or  that  they  did  acknowledge  any  first 
cause  or  mouer,  neither  that  they  worship  the 
heauen  or  starres,  the  sunne  or  moone,  or  other 
planets,  and  much  lesse  whether  they  be  idola- 
ters, neither  could  we  learne  whether  that  they 
used  any  kind  of  sacrifices  or  other  adorations, 
neither  in  their  villages  haue  they  any  temples 
or  houses  of  prayer ;  we  suppose  that  they  haue 
no  religion  at  all,  and  that  they  liue  at  their 
owne  libertie.  And,  that  all  this  proceedeth  of 
ignorance,  for  that  they  are  very  easie  to  be  per- 
suaded; and  all  that  they  see  us  Christians  doe 
in  our  diuine  service,  they  did  the  same  w^th  the 
like  imitation  as  they  saw  us  to  doe  it. 


THE    END. 


14* 


/Ct- 


/6V 


TDiii  tlie  Basso -Kclievo  in  tiic  lidiMinl,! 

■,'.,.(•  ,r.ii..!     ir   W  i-,-l..:  ,.    ,■ 


/^. 


THE 


ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE. 


CHAPTER   I. 


OME  men  choose  to  live  in 
crowded  cities  ; — others  are 
pleased  with  the  peaceful  quiet 
of  a  country  farm  ;  while  some 
love  to  roam  through  wild  for- 
ests, and  make  their  homes  in 
the  wilderness.  The  man  of 
whom  I  shall  now  speak,  was 
of  this  last  class.  Perhaps  you 
never  heard  of  Daniel  Boone,  the 
Kentucky  rifleman.  If  not,  then  I 
have  a  strange  and  interesting  story 
to  tell  you. 
If,  when  a  child  was  born,  we  knew 
that  he  was  to  become  a  remarkable  man, 
the  time  and  place  of  his  birth  would, 
perhaps,  be  always  remembered.  But  as  this  can 
not  be  known,  great  mistakes  are  often  made  on 
these  points.     As  to  the  time  when  Daniel  Boone 


14  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

was  born,  there  is  no  difficulty  ;  but  people  have 
fallen  into  many  blunders  about  the  place.  Some 
haA^e  said  that  he  was  born  in  England,  before  his 
parents  left  that  country  ;  others  that  he  came  into 
this  world  during  the  passage  of  his  parents  across 
the  Atlantic.  One  has  told  us  that  he  was  born  in 
Virginia  ;  another  in  Maryland  ;  wdiile  many  have 
stated  that  he  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina. 
These  are  all  mistakes.  Daniel  Boone  was  bom 
in  the  year  1746,  in  Bucks  county,  in  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania. 

From  some  cause  or  other,  when  the  boy  was 
but  three  years  old,  his  parents  moved  from  this 
home,  and  settled  upon  the  Schuylkill  river,  not  far 
from  the  town  of  Reading.  Here  they  lived  for 
ten  years  ;  and  it  was  during  this  time  that  their 
son  Daniel  began  to  show  his  passion  for  hunting. 
He  was  scarcely  able  to  carry  a  gun,  when  he 
was  shooting  all  the  squirrels,  rackoons,  and  even 
wild-cats  (it  is  said),  that  he  could  find  in  that  re- 
gion. As  he  grew  older,  his  courage  increased, 
and  then  we  find  him  amusing  himself  with  higher 
game.  Other  lads  in  the  neighborhood  were  soon 
taught  by  him  the  use  of  the  rifle,  and  were  then 
able  to  join  him  in  his  adventures.  On  one  occa- 
sion, they  all  started  out  for  a  hunt,  and  after 
amusing  themselves  till  it  was  almost  dark,  were 
returning  homeward,  when  suddenly  a  wild  cry 
was  heard  in  the  w^oods.     The  boys  screamed  out, 


DANIEL    BOONE.  15 

"A  panther  !  «a  panther  !"  and  ran  off  as  fast  as 
they  could.  Boone  stood  firmly,  looking  around 
for  the  animal.  It  was  a  panther  indeed.  His 
eye  lighted  upon  him  just  in  the  act  of  spring- 
ing toward  him  :  in  an  instant  he  levelled  his  rifle, 

o 

and  shot  him  through  the  heart. 

But  this  sort  of  sport  was  not  enough  for  him. 
He  seemed  resolved  to  go  away  from  men,  and 
live  in  the  forests  with  these  animals.  One  morn- 
ing he  started  off  as  usual,  with  his  rifle  and 
dog.  Night  came  on,  hut  Daniel  did  not  re- 
turn to  his  home.  Another  day  and  night  passed 
away,  and  still  the  boy  did  not  make  his  appear- 
ance. His  parents  were  now  greatly  alarmed. 
The  neighbors  joined  them  in  making  search  for 
the  lad.  x\fter  wandering  about  a  great  while, 
they  at  length  saw  smoke  rising  from  a  cabin  in 
the  distance.  Upon  reaching  h,  they  found  the 
boy.  The  floor  of  the  cabin  was  covered  with  the 
skins  of  such  animals  as  he  had  slain,  and  pieces 
of  meat  were  roasting  before  the  fire  for  his  sup- 
per. Here,  at  a  distance  of  three  miles  from  any 
settlement,  he  had  built  his  cabin  of  sods  and 
branches,  and  sheltered  himself  in  the  wilderness. 

It  was  while  his  father  was  living  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  Schuylkill,  that  young  Boone  re- 
ceived, so  far  as  we  know,  all  his  education.  Short 
mdeed  were  his  schoolboy  days.  It  happened  that 
an  Irish  schoolmaster  strolled  into  the  settlement, 


16  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

and,  by  the  advice  of  Mr.  Boone  and  other  parents, 
opened  a  school  in  the  neighborhood.  It  was  not 
then  as  it  is  now.  Good  schoolhouses  were  not 
scattered  over  the  land  ;  nor  were  schoolmasters 
always  able  to  teach  their  pupils.  The  school- 
house  where  the  boys  of  this  settlement  went  was 
a  log  cabin,  built  in  the  midst  of  the  woods.  The 
schoolmaster  was  a  strange  man  :  sometimes  good- 
humored,  and  then  indulo;inor  the  lads  ;  sometimes 
surly  and  ill-natured,  and  then  beating  them  se- 
verely. It  was  his  usual  custom,  after  hearing  the 
first  lessons  of  the  morning,  to  allow  the  children 
to  be  out  for  a  half  hour  at  play,  during  which  time 
he  strolled  off  to  refresh  himself  from  his  labors. 
He  always  Avalked  in  the  same  direction,  and  the 
boys  thought  that  after  his  return,  when  they 
were  called  in,  he  Avas  generally  more  cruel  than 
ever.  They  were  whipped  more  severely,  and 
oftentimes  without  any  cause.  They  observed 
this,  but  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  it.  One 
morning  young  Boone  asked  that  he  might  go  out, 
and  had  scarcely  left  the  schoolroom,  Avhen  he  saw 
a  squirrel  running  over  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree. 
True  to  his  nature,  he  instantly  gave  chase,  until 
at  last  the  squirrel  darted  into  a  bower  of  vines 
and  branches.  Boone  thrust  his  hand  in,  and,  to  his 
surprise,  laid  of  hold  of  a  bottle  of  wliiskey.  This 
was  in  the  direction  of  his  master's  morning  walks, 
and  he  thought  now  that  he  understood  the  secret  of 


DANIEL    BOONE.  17 

much  of  his  ill-nature.  He  returned  to  the  school- 
room ;  but  when  they  were  dismissed  for  that  day, 
he  told  some  of  the  larger  boys  of  his  discovery. 
Their  plan  was  soon  arranged.  Early  the  next 
morning  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  having  tartar  emetic 
in  it,  was  placed  in  the  bower,  and  the  other  bottle 
thrown  away.  At  the  usual  hour,  the  lads  were 
sent  out  to  play,  and  the  master  started  on  his 
walk.  But  their  play  was  to  come  afterward  : 
they  longed  for  the  master  to  return.  At  length 
they  were  called  in,  and  in  a  little  time  saw  the 
success  of  their  experiment.  The  master  began 
to  look  pale  and  sick,  yet  still  went  on  with  his 
work.  Several  boys  were  called  up,  one  after  the 
other,  to  recite  lessons,  and  all  whipped  soundly, 
whether  right  or  wrong.  At  last  young  Boone 
was  called  out  to  answer  questions  in  arithme- 
tic. He  came  forward  with  his  slate  and  pencil, 
and  the  master  began  :  "  If  you  subtract  six  from 
nine,  what  remains  ?"  said  he.  "  Three,  sir,"  said 
Boone.  "  Very  good,"  said  the  master  ;  "  now  let 
us  come  to  fractions.  If  you  take  three  quarters 
from  a  whole  number,  what  remains  ?" — "  The 
whole,  sir,"  answered  Boone.  "  You  blockhead  !" 
cried  the  master,  beating  him,  "  you  stupid  little 
fool,  how  can  you  show  that?" — "  If  I  take  one 
bottle  of  whiskey,"  said  Boone,  "  and  put  in  its 
place  another  in  which  I  have  mixed  an  emetic, 
the  whole  will  remain,  if  nobody  drinks  it !"  •  The 
2* 


18  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Irishman,  dreadfully  sick,  ^vas  now  doubly  enraged, 
He  seized  Boone,  and  commenced  beating  him : 
the  children  shouted  and  roared  ;  the  scuffle  con- 
tinued, until  Boone  knocked  the  master  down  upon 
the  floor,  and  rushed  out  of  the  room.  It  was  a 
day  of  freedom  now  for  the  lads.  The  story  soon 
ran  through  the  neighborhood  ;  Boone  was  rebuked 
by  his  parents,  but  the  schoolmaster  was  dismissed, 
and  thus  ended  the  boy's  education. 

Thus  freed  from  school,  he  now  returned  more 
ardently  than  ever  to  his  favorite  pursuit.  His 
dog  and  rifle  were  his  constant  companions,  and 
day  after  day  he  started  from  home,  only  to 
roam  through  the  forests.  Hunting  seemed  to 
be  the  only  business  of  his  life  ;  and  he  was  never 
so  happy  as  when  at  night  he  came  home  laden 
with  game.     He  was  an  untiring  wanderer. 

I  do  not  know  but  that  this  passion  for  roaming 
was  in  some  degree  inherited  by  Daniel  Boone. 
His  father  had  already  had  three  homes  :  one  in 
England,  one  in  Bucks  county,  and  another  on  the 
Schuylkill ;  and  he  now  thought  of  removing  fur- 
ther. It  is  said  that  the  passion  of  Daniel  for 
hunting  was  one  cause  which  prompted  his  father 
to  think  of  this.  Land  was  becoming  scarce,  the 
neighborhood  a  little  crowded,  and  game  less 
abundant ;  and,  to  mend  matters,  he  began  to  cast 
his  eyes  around  for  a  new  home.  He  was  not  long 
in  choosing  one.     He  had  heard  of  a  rich  and 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


19 


beautiful  country  on  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin  river 
in  North  Carolina,  and  he  determined  that  this 
should  be  the  next  resting-place  for  him  and  his 
household. 

All  things  were  made  ready  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  the  journey  commenced.  It  was  a  fine  spring . 
morning  when  the  father  started  for  his  new  home, 
with  his  wife  and  children,  his  flocks  and  herds. 
Their  journey  lay  hundreds  of  miles  through  a 
trackless  wilderness  ;  yet  with  cheerful  and  fear- 
less hearts  they  pressed  onward.  When  hungry, 
they  feasted  upon  venison  and  wild  turkeys  (for 
Daniel,  with  his  rifle,  was  in  company) ;  when 
thirsty,  they  found  cool  springs  of  water  to  refresh 
them  by  the  way ;  when  wearied  at  night,  they 
laid  themselves  down  and  slept  under  the  wide- 
spreading  branches  of  the  forest.  At  length  they 
reached  the  land  they  looked  for,  and  the  father 
found  it  to  be  all  that  he  expected.  The  woods  in 
that  region  were  unbroken  ;  no  man  seemed  yet  to 
have  found  them.  Land  was  soon  cleared,  a  cabin 
built,  and  the  father  in  a  little  time  found  himself 
once  more  happily  settled  with  his  family. 

The  old  man  with  his  other  sons  went  busily  to  the 
work  of  making  a  farm.  As  for  Daniel,  they  knew 
it  was  idle  to  expect  his  help  in  such  enipkyment, 
and  therefore  left  him  to  roam  about  with  his 
rifle.  This  was  a  glorious  country  for  the  youth  ; 
wild  woods  were  all  around  him,  and  the  game, 


20  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

having  not  yet  learned  to  fear  the  crack  of  the  rifle, 
wandered  fearlessly  through  them.  This  he  thought 
was,  of  all  places,  the  home  for  him.  I  hope  you 
will  not  think  that  he  was  the  idle  and  useless  boy 
of  the  family,  for  it  was  not  so.  While  the  farm 
was  improving,  Daniel  was  supplying  the  family 
with  provisions.  The  table  at  home  was  always 
filled  with  game,  and  they  had  enough  and  to  spare. 
Their  house  became  known  as  a  warm-hearted 
and  hospitable  abode  ;  for  the  wayfaring  wanderer, 
when  lost  in  the  woods,  was  sure  to  find  here  a 
welcome,  a  shelter,  and  an  abundance.  Then,  too, 
if  money  was  wanted  in  the  family,  the  peltries 
of  the  animals  shot  by  Daniel  supplied  it :  so 
that  he  was,  in  a  large  degTee,  the  supporter 
of  the  household.  In  this  way  years  rolled  on- 
ward— the  farm  still  enlarging  and  improving, 
Daniel  still  hunting,  and  the  home  one  of  constant 
peace,  happiness,  and  plenty. 

At  length  the  story  of  the  success  and  comfort 
of  the  family  brought  neighbors  around  them.  Dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  forests  began  to  be  cleared  ; 
smoke  was  soon  seen  rising  from  new  cabins  ; 
and  the  sharp  crack  of  other  rifles  than  Daniel's 
was  sometimes  heard  in  the  morning.  This  grieved 
him  sadly.  Most  people  would  have  been  pleased 
to  find  neighbors  in  the  loneliness  of  the  woods  ; 
but  what  pleased  others  did  not  please  him.  They 
were  crowding  upon  him;  they  were  driving  away 


DANIEL    BOONE.  21 

his  game  :  this  was  his  trouble.  But,  after  all, 
there  Avas  one  good  farmer  who  came  into  the  re- 
gion and  made  his  settlement ;  which  settlement, 
as  it  turned  out,  proved  a  happy  thing  for  Daniel. 
This  was  a  very  worthy  man  named  Bryan. 
He  cleared  his  land,  built  his  cabin  upon  a  sloping 
aill,  not  very  far  from  Mr.  Boone's,  and  before 
a  great  while,  by  dint  of  industry,  had  a  good  farm 
of  more  than  a  hundred  acres.  This  farm  was 
beautifully  situated.  A  pretty  stream  of  water 
almost  encircled  it.  On  the  banks  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill, Daniel  Boone  found  all  his  education,  such 
as  it  was ;  on  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin  he  found 
something  far  better.  I  must  tell  you  now  of  a 
veiy  strange  adventure. 

One  evening,  with  another  young  friend,  he 
started  out  upon  what  is  called  a  '■''  jirc-huntP  Per- 
haps you  do  not  know  what  this  means.  I  will 
explain  it  to  you.  Two  people  are  always  neces- 
sary' for  a  fire-hunt.  One  goes  before,  carrying  a 
blazing  torch  of  pitch-pine  wood  (or  lightwood,  as 
it  is  called  in  the  southern  country),  while  the  other 
follows  behind  with  his  rifle.  In  this  way  the  two 
hunters  move  through  the  forests.  When  an  ani- 
mal is  startled,  he  will  stand  gazing  at  the  light, 
and  his  eyes  may  be  seen  shining  distinctly :  this 
is  called  '^shining  the  eyesP  The  hunter  with  the 
rifle,  thus  seeing  him,  while  the  other  shines  him, 
levels  his  gun  with  steady  aim,  and  has  a  fair  shot. 


22  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

This  mode  of  hunting  is  still  practised  in  many 
parts  of  our  country,  and  is  everywhere  known  as 
a  jire-hunt. 

Boone,  with  his  companion,  started  out  upon  such 
a  hunt,  and  very  soon  reached  the  woods  skirting 
the  lower  end  of  ^Ir.  Bryan's  farm.  It  seems  they 
were  on  horseback,  Boone  being  behind  with  the 
rifle.  They  had  not  gone  far,  when  his  companion 
reined  up  his  horse,  and  two  eyes  were  seen 
distinctly  shining.  Boone  levelled  his  rifle,  but 
something  prevented  his  firing.  The  animal  darted 
off.  Boone  leaped  from  his  horse,  left  his  com- 
panion, and  instantly  dashed  after  it.  It  was  too 
dark  to  see  plainly,  still  he  pursued  ;  he  was  close 
upon  its  track,  when  a  fence  coming  in  the  way, 
the  animal  leaped  it  Avith  a  clear  bound.  Boone 
climbed  over  as  fast  as  he  could  with  his  rifle,  but 
the  game  had  got  ahead.  Nothing  daunted  by  this, 
he  pushed  on,  until  he  found  himself  at  last  not  very 
far  from  Mr.  Bryan's  home.  But  the  animal  was 
gone.  It  was  a  strange  chase.  He  determhicd  to  go 
into  Mr  Bry^an's  house,  and  tell  his  adventure.  As 
he  drew  near,  the  dogs  raised  a  loud  barking,  the 
master  came  out,  bade  him  welcome,  and  carried 
him  into  the  house.  Mr.  Bryan  had  scarcely  in- 
troduced him  to  his  family  as  "  the  son  of  his 
neighbor  Boone,"  when  suddenly  the  door  of  the 
room  was  burst  open,  and  in  rushed  a  little  lad  of 
seven,  followed  by  a  girl  of  sixteen  years,  crying 


DAXIEL    BOOXE.  23 

out, «  0  father '  father !  sister  is  frightened  to  death ! 
She  went  down  to  the  river,  and  was  chased  by  a 
panther  !"  The  hunter  and  his  game  had  met. 
There  stood  Boone,  leaning  upon  his  rifle,  and 
Rebecca  Brj^an  before  him,  gasping  for  breath. 
From  that  moment  he  continued  to  pursue  it ; 
Farmer  Bryan's  house  became  a  favorite  resort 
for  him  ;  he  loved  it  as  well  as  the  woods.  The 
business  was  now  changed :  Rebecca  Bryan  com- 
pletely shined  his  eyes ;  and  after  a  time,  to  the 
great  joy  of  themselves  and  both  families,  Daniel 
Boone  and  Rebecca  Bryan  were  married.  It 
proved,  as  you  will  see,  a  very  happy  marriage  to 
both  parties. 

Being  now  a  married  man,  it  became  Daniel 
Boone's  duty  to  seek  a  new  home  for  himself.  In 
a  little  time,  therefore,  he  left  his  wife,  and  wan- 
dered into  the  unsettled  parts  of  North  Carolina  in 
search  of  one.  After  moving  about  for  some 
time,  he  found,  upon  the  head-waters  of  the 
Yadkin,  a  rich  soil,  covered  with  a  hea\y  and  once 
more  unbroken  forest.  "  Here,"  thought  Daniel 
Boone,  "  is  the  resting-place  for  me  ;  here  Rebecca 
Bryan  and  myself  may  be  happy :  this  shall  be 
our  home."  He  returned  to  his  wife,  and  she, 
with  a  cheerful  heart,  joined  in  all  his  plans. 
With  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  bade  farewell  to  her 
friends ;  yet,  with  a  light  spirit,  she  started  off 
with  her  husband.     A  clearing  in  the  woods  was 


24  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

soon  made,  a  log  cabin  of  his  own  soon  built,  and 
a  portion  of  ground  planted.  Boone  seems  now  to 
have  thought  that  he  must  do  something  morethan 
use  his  rifle.  He  was  to  make  a  home  for  his  wife  ; 
and  busied  himself,  accordingly,  in  enlarging  his 
farm  as  fast  as  he  could,  and  industriously  cul- 
tivating it.  Still,  on  his  busiest  day,  he  would 
find  a  leisure  hour  to  saunter  with  his  gun  to 
the  woods,  and  was  sure  never  to  return  with- 
out game.  His  own  table  Avas  loaded  M-ith  it, 
as  Avhen  at  his  father's,  and  his  house,  like  his 
father's,  soon  became  known  as  a  warm  and  kind 
shelter  for  the  wandering  traveller.  In  this  indus- 
trious and  quiet  way  of  farming  and  hunting,  years 
were  spent,  and  Daniel  Boone  w^as  contented  and 
happy.  Several  little  children  were  now  added  to 
his  group  ;  and,  with  his  wife,  his  children,  and  his 
rifle,  for  companions,  he  felt  that  all  was  well. 

But  his  peace  was  at  length  disturbed  once  more. 
His  old  troubles  pursued  him  ;  men  again  began  to 
come  near.  The  crash  of  falling  trees  was  heard, 
as  the  new  settlers  levelled  the  forests ;  huts  were 
seen  springing  up  all  around  him ;  other  hunters 
were  roaming  through  the  woods,  and  other  dogs 
than  his  were  heard  barking.  This  was  more 
than  he  was  willing  to  bear.  Happy  as  he  had 
made  his  home,  he  determined  to  leave  it,  and  find 
another  in  the  wilderness,  where  he  could  have 
that  wilderness  to  himself.     For  some  time  he  was 


DANIEL    BOONE.  25 

at  a  loss  to  know  where  to  go  ;  yet  his  heart  was 
fixed  in  the  determination  to  move.  The  circum- 
stances which  pointed  him  to  his  new  home,  and 
where  that  new  home  was  made,  you  may  learn  in 
the  next  chapter. 

'i 


26 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF 


C  H  A  F  1  E  R    II. 


Y  young  friends  all  know  where 
the  state  of  Kentucky  is  situ- 
ated. It  is  hardly  necessary  for 


was  an  unbroken  wilderness. 

It  \vas  in  the  year  1754  that 
a  white  man  first  visited  the 
country  of  Kentucky.  This  was 
James  ]\I'Bride.  In  company  with 
several  others  during  that  year,  he 
was  passing  down  the  Ohio,  when 
')yy)^  he  discovered  the  mouth  of  Ken- 
il  //3w  ^ucky  river,  and  made  a  landing.  Near 
r^'L^  the  spot  where  he  landed,  he  cut  upon 
QGy  Q^  a  tree  the  first  letters  of  his  name  ;  and 
these  letters,  it  is  said,  could  be  seen  and  distinctly 
lead  for  many  years  afterward.  With  his  com- 
panions, he  wandered  through  the  wilderness  ;  the 
country  struck  them  all  as  being  remarkably  beau- 
tiful. It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  that  when  they 
returned  home,  they  were  filled  with  fine  stories 


DANIEL    BOONE.  27 

about  the  new  region.  They  declared  that  it  was 
"the  best  tract  of  land  in  North  America,  and 
probably  in  the  world." 

In  spite  of  their  pleasant  stories,  however,  it  was 
a  long  time  before  any  one  was  disposed  to  follow 
in  their  track.  i\.t  length,  Doctor  Walker,  of  Vir- 
ginia, with  a  number  of  friends,  started  upon  a 
western  tour  of  discovery.  Some  say  that  he  was 
in  search  of  the  Ohio  river  particularly ;  others 
that  he  Avent  merely  to  collect  strange  plants  and 
flowers.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  with  his  party 
wandered  through  Powell's  Valley,  and  passed  the 
mountains  at  what  is  called  the  Cumberland  Gap. 
They  then  crossed  the  Cumberland  river,  and  roam- 
ing on  through  the  forests,  at  length,  after  much 
fatigue  and  suffering,  reached  the  Big  Sandy.  The 
country  was  beautiful,  yet  they  were  too  much 
worn  out  to  go  further,  and  from  this  point  began 
to  return  homeward.  They  had  suffered  more  than 
M'Br-ide,  and  therefore  their  story  was  not  so  bright 
as  his  ;  yet  they  gave  a  very  pleasant  account  of 
the  new  country. 

No  one  yet,  however,  seemed  ready  to  make 
his  home  in  Kentucky ;  and  accident  at  last  seems 
to  have  thrown  one  man  into  that  country,  whose 
story,  upon  his  return,  made  some  anxious  to  go 
there.  This  was  John  Finley,  a  backwoodsman 
of  North  Carolina.  He  Avas  in  the  habit  of  roving 
about  and  trading  with  the  Indians.     In  the  year 


28  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

1767,  lie,  with  certain  companions  as  fearless  as 
himself,  led  on  from  place  to  place  by  the  course 
of  trade,  wandered  far  into  Kentucky.  Here  he 
remained  for  some  time.  It  was  a  very  beautiful, 
yet,  as  he  learned  also,  a  very  dangerous  country. 
No  Indian  tribe  lived  there,  but  all  the  tribes 
roamed  over  it  as  a  hunting-ground.  Upon  these 
hunts,  the  fierce  and  warlike  people  would  often 
meet  and  wage  their  bloody  battles.  These  fights 
were  so  frequent  and  so  awful,  that  the  region  was 
known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground."  In  spite  of  danger,  Finley  lived  there, 
until  at  last  the  traders  and  the  Indians  began  to 
quarrel,  and,  for  safety's  sake,  he  was  forced  to 
run  off.  He  returned  to  North  Carolina,  filled  with 
wonderful  stories.  Sights  like  those  on  the  "  Dark 
and  Bloody  Ground,"  were  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
The  land  was  rich,  and  covered  with  trees  and 
flowers  ;  there  were  lofty  mountains,  beautiful  val- 
leys, and  clear  streams,  throughout  it.  Then  he 
spoke  of  the  strange  caves  in  the  mountains  ;  of 
curious  salt  springs  ;  of  the  foot-prints  of  men  to 
be  seen  distinctly  upon  the  solid  rocks  ;  of  the 
strange  figures  of  huge  animals  on  the  sides  of  the 
high  clifis.  Game  of  all  sorts  was  abundant,  from 
the  bufialo  down  to  the  partridge.  There  was  no 
country  (he  declared)  like  Kain-tuck-kee*  His 
•  This  was  the  Indian  name  for  the  country. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  29 

tale  was  so  wonderful,  that  people  could  not  well 
help  listening  to  it. 

Whether  John  Finley  was  led  there  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  man's  character,  or  whether  it  was  an 
accident,  it  so  happened,  that  about  a  year  after  liis 
return,  he  wandered  into  the  neighborhood  of  Dan- 
iel Boone's  home.  It  was  not  long  before  he  fell 
in  with  Boone,  and  completely  charmed  him  with 
his  stories.  Boone  had  known  some  sport  in  the 
forests  himself,  but  the  adventures  of  Finley  were 
to  him  marvellous.  He  was  so  much  pleased  with 
the  man,  that  he  invited  him,  as  it  was  now  winter, 
to  come  to  his  house,  and  make  his  home  there 
through  the  season.  The  invitation  was  gladly 
accepted  ;  and  in  the  cabin  of  Boone,  again  and 
again  was  the  wild  beauty  of  the  "  Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground"  laid  before  him.  There  was  no  end  to 
Finley's  stories  of  this  region.  The  wind  whistled 
without,  but  the  fire  blazed  cheerfully  within  ;  and 
here  they  sat,  on  many  a  night,  almost  till  dawn, 
Finley  talking,  and  Boone  listening.  The  end  of 
all  this  was,  that  they  determined,  when  spring 
opened,  to  go  to  Kentucky.  Boone  knew  that 
there  were  hardships  and  perils  in  the  way,  and 
Finley  had  practically  felt  them  ;  but  what  were 
dangers  or  difficulties  to  these  fearless  men  ?  The 
first  of  May  was  agreed  upon  as  the  day  for  start- 
ing, and  Finley  was  then  again  to  meet  Boone  at 
his  house. 

3* 


30  THE    ADVEXTDRES    OF 

It  is  not  Strange  that  other  bold  men,  who 
heard  Finley's  stories,  were  seized  with  the  same 
desire  for  going  west.  Indeed,  Boone  helped  to 
give  them  that  desire,  knowing  that  a  few  brave 
spirits  would  be  of  great  service  in  the  new  coun- 
try. He  talked,  therefore,  warmly  of  the  comforts 
of  a  new  home  in  the  forest,  where  there  was  an 
abundance  of  game,  and  a  complete  absence  of 
towns  and  villages.  Accordingly,  on  the  first  of 
May,  1769,  when  Finley  repaired  to  Boone's  house, 
he  found  four  others  ready  for  the  adventure  :  these 
were  John  Stewart,  Joseph  Holden,  James  Monay, 
and  William  Cool.  The  people  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, learning  what  was  going  on,  had  likewise 
gathered  to  look  with  surprise  upon  these  six  men. 
What  could  prompt  men  to  leave  the  comforts  of 
their  quiet  homes,  and  wander  off  into  the  wilder- 
ness ?  They  surely  were  crazy.  Boone  Mas  much 
beloved  as  a  kind  neighbor,  and  they  mourned  most 
over  his  madness.  Nothing  daunted  by  all  this, 
they  were  then  ready  for  a  start,  and  were  now  on 
the  point  of  leaving.  We  are  told  that,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  Daniel  Boone  kissed  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren ;  and  if  the  story  be  true,  I  love  him  the  more 
for  it.  His  spirit  was  beating  for  his  new  hunting- 
forests  ;  he  could  face  all  the  dangers  of  the 
"  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground,"  but  then  it  was  doubt- 
ful whether  he  was  not  parting  with  his  wife  and 
children  for  ever.     At  all  events,  he  was  leaving 


DANIEL    BOONE.  31 

them  for  months,  perhaps  for  years — he  knew 
not  how  long — and  who  can  wonder  that  tears  stood 
in  his  eyes  ?  Each  man  shouldered  his  rifle, 
shot-bag,  po\vder-horn,  and  knapsack,  and  off 
they  started — every  neighbor  straining  his  eyes 
after  them  as  far  as  he  could  see,  as  the  men  upon 
whom  he  was  looking  for  the  last  time. 

For  two  or  three  days  they  saw  nothing  new,  for 
they  were  passing  over  their  old  hunting-grounds. 
After  this,  they  came  to  a  wild  and  trackless  region, 
and  saw  from  time  to  time  the  lofty  ridge  of  moun- 
tains which  separated  them  from  the  western  coun- 
<«y.  In  two  days  more,  the  provisions  with  which 
tney  had  started  gave  out,  and  the  first  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  find  a  fresh  supply.  Accordingly  they 
halted,  chose  a  suitable  spot  for  their  camp,  and 
part  of  them  commenced  building  it  of  logs  and 
branches  ;  the  others  went  into  the  woods  in  search 
of  game.  It  was  impossible  for  such  men  to  starve 
in  such  a  region ;  game  was  abundant.  The  hunt- 
ers returned  toward  night,  with  several  deer  and 
wild  turkeys.  The  camp  was  finished,  a  bright 
fire  was  burning,  and  in  a  little  time  the  venison 
was  dressed,  cooked,  and  eaten.  The  supper  was 
scarcely  finished,  when  they  saw  dark  clouds  gath- 
ering, and  presently  they  were  visited  by  a  tremen- 
dous thunder-storm.  The  sharp  lightning  flashed 
through  the  woods,  and  the  rain  poured  down  in  tor- 
rents ;  yet,  in  their  €amp  they  fearlessly  sheltered 


32  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

themselves,  the  branches  covering  them  from  the 
rain.  A  man  can  scarcely  be  placed  during  a  thun- 
der-storm in  a  more  dangerous  place  than  a  forest : 
every  tree  is  a  mark  for  the  ligiitning  ;  yet  these 
men  were  calm  and  self-possessed,  and  were  mer- 
cifully protected. 

The  stonn  having  passed  over,  they  made  their 
arrangements  for  the  night.  For  safety's  sake,  two 
men  were  to  keep  a  constant  watch,  w^hile  the 
others  slept ;  and  in  this  duty  of  watching,  they 
were  to  take  timis.  About  midnight,  while  Boone 
and  Holden  were  keeping  the  watch,  a  sharp  slii-ill 
crj'  was  heard  in  the  woods.  They  sprang  to  their 
feet.  '^  What  noise  is  that  ?"  said  Holden.  The 
sound  was  familiar  to  Boone.  "  Be  still,"  said 
he  ;  "  it  is  only  a  panther;  come  along  with  me." 
Moving  cautiously  from  the  camp,  they  listened 
again  for  the  cry.  Once  more  they  heard  it. 
Creeping  through  the  woods  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound,  they  at  length  saw  through  the  darkness 
the  wild,  glaring  eyes  of  the  animal.  Boone  lev- 
elled his  rifle  with  steady  aim,  and  fired.  With  a 
wild  yell  the  panther  fell  to  the  ground,  and  began 
to  retreat.  Both  were  satisfied  that  the  ball  had 
struck  him,  and  returned  again  to  the  camp.  The 
crack  of  the  rifle  had  waked  their  companions  ;  the 
adventure  was  made  known  to  them,  and  they  went 
quietly  to  sleep  again,  satisfied  that  for  the  rest  of 
the  night  at  least  that  panther  would  not  disturb  them. 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


33 


The  next  day  was  a  very  busy  one.     Finding 
game  so  plenty  in  the  neighborhood,  they  deter- 
mined to  lay  in  a  good  supply.     Part  of  them  were 
therefore  out  in  the  woods,  hunting,  while  the  rest 
were  in  the  camp,  smoking,  drying,  and  packmg 
the  venison  for  the  journey.     Fatigued  with  these 
labors,  when  night  came  they  gladly  laid  them- 
selves down,  and,  like  wearied  men,  slept  soundly. 
By  the  first  ray  of  the  morning's  light  the  camp 
was  stirring.     Shouldering  their  rifles  and  knap- 
sacks, they  started  on  their  way.     In  a  little  time 
they  found  a  dead  panther.     Boone  declared  that 
this  was  his  panther  ;  the  animal  was  killed  with 
one  ball,  and  by  comparing  that  ball  with  those  m 
his  shot-bag,  he  found  they  were  of  the  same  size. 
In  two  or  three  days  they  reached  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  and  began  to  ascend.     Their  journey 
was  now  rough  and  wearisome,  and  they  made 
slow  progress.     To  any  men  but  these,  the  moun- 
tains might  have  proved  impassable  ;  but  they  were 
bent  upon  finding  the  new  hunting-grounds  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  nothing  could  keep  them  back.     After 
climbing  the  hills  day  after  day,  they  found  once 
more  that  their  provisions  were  gone,  and  were 
again  forced  to  hah.     Their  camp  was  buiU  on  the 
side  of  the  mountain,  and  their  rifles  easily  supplied 
their  wants.    The  journey  was  rigorously  renewed, 
and  after  many  days  of  further  struggling,  they  at 
length  found  themselves  on  one  of  the  tops  of  the 


34  THE    ADVENTURES    OT 

Allegany  ridge.  Here  ihey  were,  upon  Cumber 
land  mountain.  At  this  place  they  halted  once  more, 
to  look  down  upon  the  magnificent  prospect  which 
was  spread  out  before  them.  This  was  their  first 
view  of  the  new  region,  and  they  felt  that  it  was 
all  that  Finley  had  described  it  to  be.  It  was  in- 
deed a  glorious  country.  The  land  was  covered 
with  trees  and  flowers  ;  there  were  the  rolling 
hills,  and  the  beautiful  valleys,  and  the  clear 
sparkling  streams,  of  which  he  had  spoken. 

The  prospect  was  too  beautiful  to  allow  them  to 
tarry  long :  they  panted  to  be  in  that  country. 
With  more  earnest  desires  than  ever,  they  com- 
menced descending  the  mountains.  This  part  of 
the  journey  was  comparatively  easy.  In  a  few 
days  now  they  reached  the  western  base  of  the 
hills,  and  entered  a  lovely  plain.  Here,  for  the 
first  time,  the  new  hunters  saw  the  finest  of 
western  game — a  herd  of  buffaloes.  From  the  skirt 
of  the  wood  at  the  end  of  the  plain,  a  countless 
troop  of  these  animals  came  rushing  over  it.  The 
men  were  delighted  ;  they  had  heard  of  these  noble 
beasts  of  the  forest,  but  none  of  them,  except  Fin- 
ley,  had  ever  seen  one.  As  the  mass  came 
tramping  toward  them,  they  stood  gazing  in  as- 
tonishment. Finley,  who  knew  that  men  were 
sometimes  trampled  to  death  by  these  moving 
troops,  kept  his  eye  steadily  upon  the  herd  until 
the  foremost  was  within  rifle-shot ;  he  then  levelled 


DANIEL   BOONE.  35 

his  gun,  and  the  leader  fell  dead.  With  a  wild 
bellow  the  herd  parred  on  each  side  of  the  fallen 
animal,  and  went  scampering  through  the  plain. 
There  seemed  no  end  to  the  number,  as  they  still 
came  rushing  from  the  wood.  The  mass  appeared 
closing  again  in  a  solid  body,  when  he  seized 
Ilolden's  rifle,  and  shot  another.  Now  they  were 
completly  routed  ;  branching  off  on  the  two  sides 
of  the  plain,  they  went  bellowing  and  tearing  past 
them.  •'  An  amazing  country,  this  !"  cried  Boone  ; 
"  who  ever  beheld  such  an  abundance  ?"  The 
camp  was  once  more  soon  built,  a  blazing  fire 
made,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  five  of 
tliese  men  sat  down  to  a  supper  of  bufialo-meat. 
They  talked  of  their  new  country,  the  quan- 
tity of  game,  and  how  joyously  they  would  roam 
through  the  huge  forests,  until  the  night  had  worn 
far  away. 

The  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  they  packed 
up  such  portions  of  the  animals  as  they  could 
readily  carry,  and  resumed  their  march.  In  a  little 
time  they  reached  Red  river.  Here  Finley  began 
to  feel  more  at  home,  for  on  this  river  he  had  lived. 
Following  the  course  of  the  stream,  ere  long  they 
came  to  the  place  which  had  been  his  trading-post 
with  the  Indians.  They  had  been  more  than  a 
month  reaching  this  point,  and,  naturally  enough, 
were  wearied.  Finley,  too,  could  no  longer  guide 
them  ;  and  here,  for  the  present,  they  determined 


36  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

to  halt  again.     It  was  now  the  seventh  day  of 
June. 

As  this  was  to  be  their  headquarters  for  some 
time,  they  built  at  once  a  substantial  log  cabin. 
They  were  now  fairly  in  the  wilds  of  Ken- 
tucky ;  and  remembering  that  the  whole  region 
was  the  fighting-gTound  of  the  wandering  Indians, 
the  cabin  was  built  not  only  to  protect  th^m  from  the 
weather,  but  to  answer  as  a  sort  of  fort  against  the 
savages.  This  shelter  being  provided,  their  whole 
time  now  was  given  to  hunting  and  explormg  the 
country.  Hunting  was  a  pastime  indeed,  the  game 
was  so  abundant.  They  could  look  out  upon  htrds 
of  buffaloes  scattered  through  the  canebrakes, 
browsing  upon  the  leaves  of  the  cane,  or  cropping 
the  tall  grass  ;  the  deer  bounded  fearlessly  by  the 
very  door  of  their  hut,  and  wild  turkeys  were  to 
be  found  everywhere.  EverA^hing  was  in  a  state 
of  nature  ;  the  animals  had  not  yet  learned  to  be 
afraid  of  man.  Of  course,  they  did  not  suffer  with 
hunger  :  provisions  of  the  finest  kind  were  ever  in 
their  cabin.  But  the  buffaloes  provided  them  with 
more  than  food.  From  time  to  time,  as  they  need- 
ed moccasins  for  their  feet,  his  skin  supplied  them  ; 
and  when  at  night  they  felt  the  dampness  of  the 
weather,  his  hide  was  the  blanket  in  which  they 
wrapped  themselves  and  slept  soundly. 

The  country,  as  they  wandered  through  it,  struck 
them  as  beautifid  indeed.     There  were  the  lofty 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


37 


trees  of  the  forest,  with  no  undergrowth  except 
the  cane,  the  grass,  and  the  flowers.  They 
seemed  to  have  been  pLanted  by  the  hand  of  man  at 
regular  distances.  Clear  streams  were  seen  wind- 
ing through  lovely  meadows,  surrounded  by  the 
gently-sloping  hills  ;  and  the  fearless  buffalo  and 
deer  were  their  companions  every  hour.  In  their 
wanderings  they  came  several  times  to  hard  and 
well-tramped  roads.  It  was  by  following  these 
that  they  discovered  many  of  the  salt  springs  or 
licks  where  saU  is  made  even  now.  The  roads 
to  these  were  worn  thus  hard  by  the  buffaloes 
and  other  animals  that  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting 
the  springs. 

The  place  of  Finley's  old  trading-post,  where 
their  cabin  now  stood,  seems  to  have  been  chosen 
by  him  not  only  as  a  central  point  for  trade  :  it  was 
on  the  side  of  a  finely-sloping  hill,  and  command- 
ed a  good  view  of  the  country  below.  The  situa- 
tion was  beautiful.  Perhaps  he  chose  it  when  he 
was  a  lonely  white  man  in  the  wildernes  5,  because 
thence  he  might  readily  see  the  ap;)roach  of 
Indians,  and  make  his  escape,  or  perh  ips  it  was 
the  very  beauty  of  the  spot  that  charmed  him.  He 
had  a  love  for  the  beautiful.  One  day,  he  and  Boone 
were  standing  by  the  door  of  the  cabin.  The 
wind  was  sighing  in  the  tops  of  the  forest,  and 
while  they  were  listening  to  the  music,  they  were 
looking  out  upon  the  beautiful  region  below  ;  the 
4 


38  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

grass  was  green,  and  the  bright  flowers  turned  up 
their  leaves  to  the  sun.  "  Glorious  country!"  cried 
Finley  ;  "  this  wilderness  does  indeed  blossom  like 
the  rose." — "  Yes,"  replied  Boone,  "  and  who 
vv'ould  live  amid  the  barren  pine-hills  of  North  Car- 
olina, to  hear  the  screaming  of  the  jay,  and  now 
and  then  shoot  a  deer  too  lean  to  be  eaten  ?  This 
is  the  land  for  hunters.  Here  man  and  beast  may 
grow  to  their  full  size." 

In  this  way,  for  more  than  six  months,  these 
men  fearlessly  hunted  and  roamed  through  the 
woods.  Contrary  to  their  expectations,  through 
the  whole  summer  they  saw  no  Indians,  nor  did 
they  meet  with  any  remarkable  adventure.  The 
precaution  of  a  nightly  w^atch  was  adopted,  but 
they  met  with  no  disturbance  from  man  or  beast. 
They  had  glorious  sport  by  day,  and  slept  quietly 
at  night.  After  this,  as  you  will  see,  they  began 
to  meet  difficulties. 

On  the  22d  of  December,  Boone  and  Stewart 
started  off,  as  they  had  often  done  before,  upon  an 
exploring  tour.  After  wandering  several  miles, 
they  pressed  their  way  through  a  piece  of  thick 
woods,  and  came  out  upon  a  boundless  open  forest. 
Here  they  found  quantities  of  persimmon-tre..- . 
loaded  with  ripe  fruit,  while  clusters  of  wild  gr  ^-es 
covered  the  vines  that  were  hanging  from  the  lofty 
branches.  Flowers  were  still  in  bloom,  and  scented 
the  air  ;  herds  of  animals  might  be  seen  through 


DANIEL    BOONE.  39 

the  forest  in  every  direction  :  add  to  this  that  the 
day  was  beautiful,  and  you  will  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  they  continued  to  wander — indeed,  that 
they  wandered  much  further  than  they  supposed. 
It  was  nearly  dark  when  they  reached  the  Ken- 
tucky river,  and  stood  looking  upon  its  rippling 
waters.  Perceiving  a  hill  close  by,  they  climbed 
it,  that  they  might  take  a  better  view  of  the  course 
of  the  stream.  They  were  now  descending,  on 
their  way  homeward,  when  suddenly  they  heard 
an  Indian  yell,  and  out  rushed  from  the  canebrake 
a  party  of  savages.  They  had  no  time  for  re- 
sistance— indeed,  time  was  nothing  ;  they  were 
overpowered  by  numbers.  The  savages  seized 
them,  took  away  their  rifles  and  ammunition, 
bound  them,  and  marched  them  off  to  their 
camp.  The  next  morning  they  started  off  with 
their  prisoners,  the  poor  fellows  not  knowing 
where  they  were  going,  or  what  was  to  be 
done  to  them.  They  did  not  know  one  word  of 
their  language,  and  could  therefore  learn  noth- 
ing :  this  much,  however,  they  very  well  under- 
stood— that  it  would  not  do  to  show  any  signs  of 
fear  to  the  Indians  ;  and  therefore  they  went  on 
cheerfully.  In  a  little  time  they  became  better 
acquainted  with  their  captors,  and  judged,  from 
certain  signs,  that  the  Indians  themselves  had  not 
determined  what  was  to  be  done.  Part  seemed  to 
be  for  sparing  them,  part  for  killing ;  still  their  cheer- 


40  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

fulness  was  the  same.  This  apparent  fearlessness 
deceived  the  Indians  ;  they  supposed  the  prisoners 
were  well  pleased  with  their  condition,  and  did  not 
watch  them  closely.  On  the  seventh  night  of 
their  march,  the  savages,  as  usual,  made  their 
camp,  and  all  laid  down  to  sleep.  About  mid- 
night, Boone  touched  Stewart,  and  waked  him : 
now  or  never  was  their  time.  They  rose,  groped 
their  way  to  the  rifles,  and  stole  from  the  camp. 
They  hardly  dared  to  look  behind  them  ;  every 
sound  startled  them,  even  the  snapping  of  the  twigs 
under  their  feet.  Fortunately,  it  was  dark,  even 
if  the  Indians  pursued.  They  wandered  all  that 
night  and  the  whole  of  the  next  day,  when  at  last, 
without  meeting  a  man,  they  reached  their  own 
camp.  But  what  was  their  surprise  on  finding  the 
camp  plundered,  and  not  one  of  their  companions 
to  be  seen  ?  What  had  become  of  them  ?  Perhaps 
they  were  prisoners  ;  possibly  they  were  murdered ; 
or  it  might  be  that  they  had  started  back  for  North 
Carolina.  They  were  safe,  but  where  were  their 
comrades  ?  Wearied  in  body,  and  tormented  with 
fears  for  their  friends,  they  commenced  preparing 
for  the  night.  A  sound  was  now  heard.  They 
seized  their  rifles,  and  stood  ready,  expecting  the 
Indians.  Two  men  Avere  seen  indistinctly  ap- 
proaching. "  Who  comes  there  ?"  cried  Boone. 
"  White  men  and  friends,"  was  the  answer.  Boone 
knew  the  voice.     In  an  instant  more,  his  brother 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


41 


Squire  Boone,  with  another  man,  entered  the  cabin. 
These  two  men  had  set  out  from  Carolina  for  the 
purpose  of  reaching  them,  and  had  for  days  been 
wandering  in  search  of  their  camp.  It  was  a  joyous 
meeting— the  more  joyous,  because  unexpected. 
Big  tears  were  again  in  Daniel  Boone's  eyes  when 
he  heard,  from  his  brother,  that  Ins  wife  and  chil- 
dren were  well. 

4* 


42 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF 


CHAPTER    III. 


HEN  Squire  Boone  had  told 
his  brother  all  the  news  of 
home,  it  became  his  turn  to  be 
a  listener,  while  Daniel  talked 
to  him  of  all  that  happened 
since  they  parted.  After  tel- 
ling him  of  the  beautiful  coun- 
tr\^,  and  their  happy  freedom 
as  they  wandered  through  it  for  six 
months,  then  came  the  story  of  his 
captivity  and  escape.  That  escape 
was  but  just  now  made,  and  with  a 
full  heart  he  dwelt  upon  this  part 
of  his  story.  It  would  not  have  been 
strange  if  Squire  had  now  felt  alarmed  ; 
but  his  disposition  was  much  like  his 
brother's  :  he  loved  the  woods,  and  was  afraid  of 
nothing. 

In  a  little  time,  the  four  were  once  more  hunting 
freely  through  the  forests.  Signs  of  Indians  were 
to  be  seen  around,  however  ;  possibly  they  were 


DANIEL    BOONE.  43 

the  very  Indians  who  had  captured  them.  In  their 
wanderings,  therefore,  they  kept  together  usually, 
for  self-protection.  One  day,  they  started  out  upon 
a  buffalo-lumt.  As  they  came  upon  a  herd  of  these 
animals,  Stewart  lodged  his  ball  in  one  of  them, 
without  bringing  him  down.  The  buffalo  went 
tearing  through  the  forest ;  and  Daniel  Boone,  with 
Stewart,  forgetful  of  everything  else,  went  chasing 
after  him.  Naturally  enough,  like  excited  men, 
they  had  no  idea  how  far  they  had  travelled,  until 
their  very  weariness  reminded  them  that  it  was  time 
to  turn  back.  Tired  as  he  was,  a  harder  race  was 
now  before  Boone.  They  had  scarcely  started  on 
their  return,  when  a  party  of  Indians  rushed  from 
the  cane-brake,  and  let  fly  their  arrows.  Stewart 
fell  dead  on  the  spot.  Boone  would  have  fired  his 
rifle,  but  he  feh  it  was  useless  :  he  could  kill  but 
one  man ;  his  only  chance  of  escape  was  in  flight. 
With  Indian  yells  and  arrows  close  behind  him,  he 
leaped  forward,  and,  by  tremendous  exertions,  at 
last  distanced  his  pursuers.  When  he  reached  the 
camp,  he  fell,  completely  exhausted. 

The  party,  now  cut  down  to  three,  was  in  a 
little  time  reduced  to  two.  From  some  cause  or 
other,  they  could  not  tell  what — possibly  the  sad 
story  jf  Stewart's  death,  and  the  fear  of  like  trou- 
bles— the  companion  who  had  come  out  with 
Squire  Boone  determined  upon  returning  to  North 


44  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

Carolina.    Very  soon,  therefore,  he  left  them  alone 
in  the  wilderness.* 

It  is  not  strange  that,  being  thus  deserted,  Squire 
Boone  felt  restless  and  dissatisfied  ;  the  wonder  is, 
that  Daniel  was  not  dissatisfied  likewise.  But  he 
was  happy  and  contented,  and  often  struggled  to 
call  up  the  same  feelings  in  his  brother.  "  You 
see,"  he  would  often  say,  "  how  little  nature  re- 
quires, to  be  satisfied.  Happiness,  the  companion^ 
of  content,  is  rather  found  in  our  own  breasts  than 
in  the  enjoyment  of  external  things.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve it  requires  but  a  little  philosophy  to  make  a 
man  happy  in  whatsoever  state  he  is.  This  con- 
sists in  a  full  resignation  to  the  will  of  Providence  ; 
and  a  resigned  soul  finds  pleasure  in  a  path  strewed 
with  briars  and  thorns."  This  was  good  counsel, 
my  young  friends,  and  I  hope  you  will  bear  it  with 
you  through  life.  It  will  serve  to  comfort  you  as 
much  as  it  did  Squire  Boone. 

To  be  idle,  was  to  allow  time  for  this  mel- 
ancholy, and  Daniel  Boone  kept  his  brother 
constantly  busy.     The  Indians,  they  were  certain, 

*  It  is  said  by  some  that  this  man  did  not  thus  leave  ihem. 
Their  story  is,  that  the  three  started  out  upon  a  hunt ;  that  this 
man  was  separated  from  the  Boones,  and  became  entangled  in 
a  swamp.  The  Boones  searched  for  him,  but  could  not  find 
him.  Afterward,  they  found  fragments  of  his  clothes,  which 
convinced  them  that  the  poor  man  had  been  torn  to  pieces  by 
wolves. 

Daniel  Boone,  however,  tells  a  different  story.  He  says  that 
the  man  left  them,  "  and  returned  home  by  himself  j"  and  I 
have  prefeired  his  statement  to  any  other. 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


•45 


knew  where  their  present  camp  was,  and  therefore 
they  resolved  to  make  another.     After  choosing 
their  spot,  they  employed  themselves  industriously 
in  erecting  another  cabin,  which  might  serve  to 
shelter  them  through  the  coming  winter.     This 
being  finished,  they  went  to  their  old  sport,  wan- 
dering through  the  woods,  admiring  the  country, 
and  bringing  down  now  and  then  a  buffalo  or  a  deer 
with  their  rifles.     At  night,  they  would  return  to 
their  camp,  raise  a  fire,  cook  their  supper,  and  sit 
till  long  after  midnight,  talking  of  their  old  home 
on  the  Yadkin.     Squire  forgot  his  loneliness,  and 
became  quite  satisfied.     In  tliis  way  time  rolled 
off  until  the  winter  had  passed  away,  and  spring 
appeared.     Strangely  enough,  they  had  been  un- 
disturbed ;  they  had  met  not  even  Avith  one  Indian. 
They  had  learned  in  the  wilderness  to  dispense 
well  nigh  with  all  comforts  ;  food  and  sleep  were 
all  they  expected.    But  their  powder  and  shot  were 
now  beginning  to  run  low,  and  without  these  they 
could  not  long  procure  food.     It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  to  make  some  arrangement  whereby  they 
might  obtain  a  fresh  supply.     Their  plan  was  soon 
settled  :  Squire  Boone  was  to  go  back  to  North  Car- 
olina, and  return  with  ammunition.    They  supposed 
horses  would  be  valuable,  also,  and  he  w^as  like- 
wise to  bring  with  him  two  of  these.     Perilous  as 
the  plan  was.  Squire  agreed  to  bear  his  part  in  it, 
and  Daniel  as  cheerfully  consented  to  his.   Accord- 


46  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

mgly,  on  tlie  first  day  of  May,  Squire  set  off  for 
the  Yadkin  ;  and,  as  if  nothinj^  was  to  be  wanting 
to  leave  Daniel  in  perfect  loneliness,  their  only 
dog  followed  Squire  as  h«  started. 

Here,  then,  Daniel  Boone  was  left  entirely  alone. 
Here  he  was  a  sort  of  Robinson  Crusoe  in  the  wil- 
derness— with  this  difference,  that  Robinson  was 
shipwrecked,  and  had  no  choice  ;  while  Boone 
chose  the  wilderness  as  his  home.  He  was  now 
completely  the  "  man  of  the  woods" — far  away, 
hundreds  of  miles  from  any  white  settlement.  For 
the  first  time  in  his  life,  according  to  his  own  con- 
fession, he  felt  lonely.  His  mind  was  filled  with 
the  remembrance  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  the 
thought  that  he  should  never  see  them  again.  He 
knew,  however,  that  sad  thoughts,  when  indulged 
in,  will  grow  very  rapidly,  and  therefore  dismissed 
them. 

For  safety's  sake  now,  he  changed  his  camp 
every  night,  that  he  might  avoid  the  Indians.  Some- 
times he  slept  in  the  canebrake  ;  sometimes  he 
laid  himself  by  the  side  of  a  stream  ;  sometimes  in 
the  caves  of  the  rocks.  By  day  he  was  surrounded 
by  his  old  companions  the  buffaloes  and  deer,  and  at 
night  was  not  unfrequently  disturbed  by  the  howl- 
ing of  the  wolves.  He  roamed  over  many  a  beau- 
tiful tract  of  country.  Now  he  would  ascend  a 
hill,  and  look  down  upon  the  scene  spread  like  a 
map  before  him  ;  now  he  would  trace  some  stream 


DANIEL    BOONE.  47 

to  its  source,  or,  following  the  well-tramped  roads 
of  the  buffaloes,  would  find  some  spring  bubbling 
in  the  forest.  In  this  way  he  moved  over  a 
large  part  of  the  country.  At  one  time,  he  struck 
the  Ohio  river,  and  wandered  for  days  on  the  banks 
of  that  noble  stream.  It  is  said,  that  in  his 
rambles,  he  one  day  stood  upon  the  spot  where  the 
city  of  Louisville  now  stands.  He  learned  to  love 
the  woods  more  than  ever.  Long  after  this,  he 
used  to  declare,  that  "  no  crowded  city,  with  all 
its  commerce  and  noble  buildings,  could  give  him 
as  much  pleasure  as  the  beauty  of  Kentucky  at 
that  time  afforded  him." 

Fortunately,  he  met  no  Indians.  x\t  one  time 
he  came  in  sight  of  a  roving  party,  but  man- 
aged to  escape  from  them.  The  mode  in  which 
he  escaped  will  show  you  his  perfect  self-posses- 
sion. He  had  stopped  one  day  to  rest  under  the 
shade  of  a  tree,  when  suddenly  he  spied  the 
party  in  the  distance.  This  was  enough  for  him. 
He  immediately  commenced  his  course  through 
the  forest,  hoping  that  they  had  not  seen  him,  and 
therefore  would  not  pursue.  From  time  to  time  he 
would  look  back  through  the  woods  ;  and  at  length 
became  convinced,  to  his  sorrow,  that  if  they  had 
not  seen  him,  they  had  marked  his  tracks,  and 
were  now  on  his  trail.  He  pushed  on  for  more 
than  two  miles,  trying  in  various  ways  to  break  the 
trail,  and  thus  put  them  out ;  still,  as  he  looked 


48  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

back,  he  could  see  that  they  were  followmg  him. 
He  was  puzzled  to  know  what  to  do.  A  happy 
thought  now  struck  him.  He  had  just  passed  the 
brow  of  a  small  hill  ;  the  heavy  grape-vines  were 
hanging  from  the  trees  all  around  him.  He  seized 
one  of  these,  and,  bracing  himself  against  the  tree 
with  his  feet,  threw  himself  as  far  as  he  could. 
This  broke  the  trail,  and  he  now  kept  directly  on 
from  the  spot  where  he  landed,  in  a  different  direc- 
tion. The  Indians  came  up,  tracking  him  as  far 
as  the  tree  :  were  then  lost,  and  gave  up  the  chase. 
Another  adventure  is  told  of  him  during  his 
lonely  wanderings,  more  perilous  even  than  this. 
One  day  he  heard  a  strange  noise  in  the  woods ; 
he  could  see  nothing,  but  stood  ready  with  his  rifle. 
Presently  an  immense  she-bear  was  seen  approach- 
ing him.  Surrounded  by  her  young  cubs,  she  was 
doubly  fierce.  As  she  came  near,  Boone  levelled 
his  rifle  and  fired.  Unfortunately,  his  steady  eye 
failed  this  time  ;  the  ball  did  not  strike  as  he 
had  aimed,  and  the  animal  pressed  forward,  the 
more  enraged.  It  was  impossible  to  load  again : 
the  bear  was  upon  Mm ;  he  had  only  time  to  draw 
his  hunting-knife  from  his  belt.  The  bear  laid  her 
paws  on  him,  and  drew  him  toward  her.  The  rifle 
in  his  left  hand  was  a  sort  of  guard,  while  with  his 
right  he  poiii.ted  the  knife  directly  for  the  heart  of 
the  animal.  As  she  grasped  him,  the  knife  entered 
her  body,  and  she  fell  dead. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  49 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  the  return  (as  he 
hought)  of  his  brother,  Boone  went  back  to  the 
old  camp  where  they  had  lodged  together,  to  meet 
him.  Here  day  after  day  he  kept  his  lookout — ■ 
day  after  day  he  was  disappointed.  He  began 
now  to  be  very  sad.  He  did  not  doubt  his  broth- 
er's fidelity  ;  he  knew  he  would  not  desert  him  ; 
but  there  were  many  dangers  by  the  way,  and 
perhaps  he  had  perished.  Then  he  thought, 
too,  of  his  wife  and  little  ones.  If  that  brother 
had  perished,  he  likewise  must  die  without  seeing 
them.  Without  ammunition  to  procure  food,  or 
defend  himself,  what  could  he  do  ?  He  must  die, 
there  in  the  wilderness.  His  brother  had  been 
absent  now  nearly  three  months  :  surely  it  was 
time  for  his  return.  Another  day  of  disappoint 
ment  was  now  drawing  to  a  close,  as  Boone  sat, 
sick  at  heart,  by  the  door  of  his  cabin.  A  sound 
broke  on  his  ear  ;  he  rose  and  stood  listening,  with 
his  hand  on  the  lock  of  his  rifle.  It  was  the  tread 
of  horses.  The  next  moment  he  saw  his  brother 
through  the  forest  leading  two  horses  heavily  la- 
den. Here  was  abundance  of  ammunition  and 
other  comfort.  The  evening  of  the  27th  of  July 
was  long  after  this  remembered  by  Daniel  Boone 
as  one  of  the  most  joyous  of  his  life. 

A  fire  was  soon  made,  their  supper  cooked,  and 
long  after  midnight  they  sat  talking.     Thousands 
of  questions   were    asked    and   answered,  until, 
5 


50  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

wearied  out,  at  last  they  lay  down  to  sleep.  The 
sun  was  high  in  the  heavens  when  they  waked  in 
the  morning. 

After  breakfast,  Daniel  Boone  proposed  a  new 
plan  to  his  brother.  Much  as  he  loved  the  woods, 
he  felt  that  two  men  could  hardly  be  safe  in  the 
neighborhood  of  so  many  Indians.  Moreover  he 
longed  to  see  his  family  :  the  stories  of  Squire 
had  called  up  fresh  recollections  in  his  heart. 
The  plan  therefore  was,  to  select  a  suitable  spot 
for  their  home,  then  return  to  Carolina  and  bring 
out  his  family.  Squire  readily  assented  to  this ; 
and  now  they  employed  themselves  for  several 
days  in  hunting  and  laying  in  a  supply  of  provis- 
ions. This  being  done,  they  went  to  the  Cumber- 
land river,  and  wandered  for  some  time  along  the 
stream  without  finding  a  place  to  please  them. 
Roaming  about  now,  they  found  many  new  streams, 
to  which,  as  the  first  discoverers,  they  gave  names. 
Anxious  as  they  were  to  return  to  the  Yadkin, 
they  were  in  no  such  hurry  as  to  neglect  making 
a  full  survey.  The  whole  winter  passed  away 
before  they  pleased  themselves.  At  length  they 
came  upon  the  Kentucky  river.  Here  the  lands 
delighted  them.  On  the  banks  of  this  stream  they 
determined  to  make  their  settlement,  and  now 
(March,  1771)  turned  their  faces  homeward.  As 
he  left  the  chosen  spot,  Boone  says  that  "  he  felt 
it  was  a  second  paradise,  and  was  resolved,  at  the 


DANIEL    BOONE.  51 

rsk  of  his  life  and  fortune,  that  his  family  should 
have  a  home  there."        • 

As  they  journeyed  eastward  from  the  Kentucky 
river,  they  occasionally  blazed  their  pathway  (as 
huntsmen  say)  that  they  might  find  their  way 
back.  It  was  necessary  thus  to  leave  some  track 
through  the  forest  wilderness,  that  they  might 
again  reach  their  chosen  spot.*  Fortunately  they 
met  with  no  Indians. 

We  hear  of  but  one  adventure  on  their  way 
homeward.  After  travelling  quietly  several  days, 
they  were  one  morning  startled  by  a  noise.  Pres- 
ently a  herd  of  buffaloes  came  rushing  and  tear- 
ing through  the  forest ;  they  seemed  frantic.  The 
cause  of  all  this  was  soon  seen.  A  panther,  seated 
upon  the  back  of  one  of  the  buffaloes,  had  plunged 
his  claws  and  teeth  into  him.  The  blood  was 
streaming  down  his  sides,  and  the  poor  animal, 
struggling  to  shake  him  off,  rushed  into  the  midst 
of  the  herd.  This  frightened  the  rest,  and  they 
went  bellowing  and  dashing  through  the  woods. 
Daniel  Boone  raised  his  rifle,  and  sent  a  ball 
through  the  panther.  He  fell  dead.  Not  far  off 
they  met  a  pack  of  wolves,  following  as  usual  in 

*  This  mode  of  marking  their  track  is  often  practised  by 
hunters  in  the  woods.  As  they  pass  through  the  forest,  they 
mark  the  trees  by  cutting  off  a  small  piece  of  the  bark.  This 
enables  them  again  to  find  the  same  pathway,  and  is  commonly 
called  "  blazing  the  track." 


52  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

the  track  of  the  buffaloes.  For  the  fun  of  seeing 
them  scatter,  Squire  no\Y  fired  his  rifle,  and  away 
they  went,  scampering  in  all  directions. 

In  due  time  they  came  to  the  mountains.  After 
trying  to  ascend  in  various  places,  at  length  they 
found  a  narrow  and  rugged  gap,  through  which 
with  great  difficulty  they  made  their  way.  It  was, 
however,  the  best  pass  they  could  discover,  and 
they  blazed  their  track,  that  they  might  find 
it  again.  In  a  little  time  now,  Daniel  Boone 
was  again  in  his  cabin  on  the  banks  of  the  Yad- 
kin. I  need  hardly  say  there  was  a  joyous  meet- 
ing ;  he  was  once  more  happy  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family.     He  had  been  absent  nearly  two  years. 

Amid  the  joys  of  home,  however,  he  did  not 
forget  his  chosen  spot  in  Kentucky  ;  his  heart  was 
filled  with  the  thought  that  his  happy  home  might 
be  happier  there.  As  this  was  to  be  his  final 
move,  it  was  necessary  to  settle  all  his  business 
on  the  Yadkin  ;  and  as  he  had  tried  the  wilder- 
ness, he  felt  that  a  few  trusty  companions  would 
be  invaluable  in  that  new  region.  He  com- 
menced, therefore,  making  what  he  thought  proper 
preparations  for  a  return.  To  beat  up  such  neigh- 
bors as  they  desired,  he  and  Squire  gave  glowing 
accounts  of  the  new  country  ;  the  rich  lands,  the 
forests,  the  streams,  the  flowers,  and  the  game, 
were  all  talked  of.  They  saw  only,  and  conse- 
quently spoke  only,  of  the  bright  side  of  the  pic- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  53 

ture.  But  there  were  numbers  of  people  to  talk 
of  difficulties  ;  these  spoke  of  the  folly  of  the 
Boones,  in  thinking  of  making  such  a  country 
their  home,  and  the  madness  of  any  man  who 
should  think  of  following  them  ;  the  country  was 
wild,  and  all  who  settled  there  must  suffer  many 
privations  :  then,  too  (according  to  their  story),  it 
was  afflicted  with  terrible  diseases,  and  they  might 
all  expect  to  die  there,  or,  if  they  escaped  the 
climate,  they  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  fierce 
and  cruel  Indians  who  roamed  through  those  for- 
ests ;  the  place  they  declared  was  so  dangerous 
that  it  was  known,  wherever  it  was  known,  as 
"  the  dark  and  bloody  ground."  With  these  sad 
stories  floating  about  continually,  it  is  not  wonder- 
fid  that  the  Boones  found  difficulty  in  beating  up 
companions,  and  that  more  than  two  years  passed 
away  before  they  were  ready  for  a  start.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  they  found  that,  while  many  were 
opposed  to  them,  and  others  wavering  as  to  what 
they  would  do,  there  were  some,  prompted  by  a 
spirit  of  bold  adventure,  ready  to  join  them.  Five 
families  were  willing  to  go  with  them  to  Ken- 
tucky. 

Daniel  Boone  now  sold  his  farm,  and  all  things 
being  made  ready,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1 773, 
the  little  company  bade  farewell  to  their  friends 
and  started  for  the  west,  driving  before  them  their 
flocks  and  their  herds.  In  their  route,  not  a  great 
5* 


54  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

way  from  the  Yadkin,  was  tlie  settlement  of  Pow- 
el's  valley.  The  story  of  their  plan  had  spread 
through  the  neighborhood,  and  when  they  reached 
this  spot  they  were  delighted  to  find  that  the  peo- 
ple were  not  so  timid  as  those  on  the  Yadkin : 
forty  men  here  joined  the  party.  Now  they  trav- 
elled on  in  high  spirits  ;  the  whole  body,  old  and 
young,  numbering  between  seventy  and  eighty 
souls. 

In  a  little  time  they  came  to  the  mountains,  and 
found  the  pathway  blazed  by  the  Boones.  In  less 
than  a  fortnight  they  passed  the  first  ridge  of  the 
Alleganies,  known  as  "  Powel's  range,"  and  were 
now  quietly  descending  the  second,  known  as 
"  Walden's  range,"  when  sorrow  overtook  them. 
They  were  in  a  dark  and  narrow  gap,  when  the 
wild  yell  of  Indians  broke  upon  their  ears.  The 
savages  rushed  into  the  gap  behind  them,  and  let 
fly  their  arrows.  Six  of  the  party  fell  dead,  a 
seventh  was  wounded.  The  men  rallied  around 
the  women  and  children  ;  the  first  discharge  of 
their  rifles  scattered  the  savages.  But  the  mis- 
chief was  done  ;  the  sudden  attack  of  the  Indians 
was  like  a  flash  of  lightning  ;  they  were  seen 
only  for  an  instant ;  yet,  like  the  lightning,  they 
had  done  their  work  :  there  were  the  dead,  and 
alas  !  among  them  was  the  oldest  son  of  Daniel 
Boone 

The  party,  a  little  time  before  so  happy,  was 


DANIEL    BOONE.  55 

now  in  deep  sorrow.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
The  Indians  had  not  only  killed  their  companions, 
but  their  flocks  and  herds  had  all  fled  in  fright, 
and  could  not  be  again  gathered  together.  In 
dismay,  the  greater  part  were  for  retreating  in- 
stantly to  the  nearest  white  settlement ;  this  was 
upon  the  Clinch  river,  forty  miles  behind  them. 
The  Boones  begged  them  to  keep  on  their  way — 
not  to  think  of  turning  back ;  but  it  was  all  to  no 
purpose  ;  most  of  them  insisted  on  retreating,  and 
they  at  length  yielded  to  the  general  desire.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  dead  were  decently  buried,  and  in 
great  sadness  they  all  traced  their  way  back  to 
Clinch  river. 

Here  Daniel  Boone  remained  with  his  family 
eight  months.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was 
requested  by  Governor  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  to 
go  to  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  to  serve  as  a  guide  to 
a  party  of  surveyors  who  had  been  sent  there 
some  months  before.  The  western  country  was 
now  beginning  to  attract  attention,  and  the  Indians 
were  becoming  very  hostile  to  the  whites.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  6th  of  June,  1774,  he  started 
(with  one  man,  Michael  Stoner),  and  without  any 
accident  reached  the  point  at  which  he  aimed — 
the  spot  where  Louisville  now  stands.  The  ser- 
vice for  the  surveyors  was  promptly  performed, 
and  they  were  enabled  to  complete  their  work, 
while  Boone  was  at  liberty  to  return  to  his  fam- 


56  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

ily.  It  is  remarkable  that  he  made  this  journey  on 
foot,  a  distance  of  eight  hundred  miles,  through  a 
trackless  wilderness,  in  the  short  period  of  sixty- 
two  days. 

He  was  not  allowed  to  remain  quiet  long  ;  soon 
after  his  return,  the  Indians  northwest  of  the  Ohio, 
especially  the  Shawanese,  made  open  war  upon 
the  whites.  Governor  Dunmore  felt  bound  to 
protect  his  countrymen,  and,  among  other  acts 
for  their  defence,  sent  Daniel  Boone,  with  the  title 
of  captain,  to  take  command  of  three  garrisons. 
This  service  was  likewise  well  performed ;  mat- 
ters were  soon  more  quiet,  the  soldiers  were  dis- 
charged, and  Boone  was  relieved  from  his  post. 

He  had  not  been  a  wanderer  in  the  woods  in 
vain ;  his  fame  had  gone  abroad,  and  his  services 
were  in  the  following  spring  sought  again.  A 
company  of  gentlemen  in  North  Carolina — the 
principal  man  of  whom  was  Colonel  Richard  Hen- 
derson— were  attempting  to  purchase  the  lands  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Kentucky  river,  from  the 
Cherokee  Indians.*  They  had  agreed  to  hold  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  at  VVataga,  in  March, 
1775,  to  settle  the  boundaries  of  their  intended 
purchase,  and  they  now  desired  Boone  to  attend 
that  treaty,  and  manage  their  business.  In  com- 
pliance wiih  their  wish,  he  went  to  Wataga,  and 

•  It  is  said  that  it  was  by  Daniel  Boone's  advice  that  they 
first  thought  of  making  this  purchase. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  57 

performed  their  service  so  well,  that  they  gave  him 
further  employment.  He  was  now  requested  to 
mark  out  a  road  from  their  settlement,  through  the 
wilderness,  to  Kentucky  river.  This  was  a  work 
of  great  labor.  It  was  necessary  to  make  many 
surveys  to  find  the  best  route,  and  when  the  best 
was  found,  it  was,  much  of  it,  over  mountains 
and  rugged  regions.  With  a  number  of  laborers, 
he  commenced  the  work.  He  met  with  two  at- 
tacks from  the  Indians  by  the  way,  in  which  four 
of  his  men  were  killed,  and  five  wounded.  Un- 
daunted, he  pushed  resolutely  on,  and,  in  the 
month  of  April,  reached  the  Kentucky  river.  To 
guard  themselves  from  the  savages,  they  immedi- 
ately commenced  the  building  of  a  fort  at  a  salt 
lick,  about  sixty  yards  from  the  south  bank  of  the 
stream.  The  Indians  annoyed  them  from  time  to 
time,  while  they  were  thus  engaged,  but  fortu- 
nately killed  but  one  man.  On  the  14th  day  of 
June  the  fort  was  finished,  and  Boone  started 
back  for  his  family  on  Clinch  river.  As  an  honor 
to  him,  the  party  gave  to  this  first  settlement  in 
the  wilderness  of  Kentucky  the  name  of  Boones- 
borough. 

He  reached  his  family  without  accident,  and,  as 
rapidly  as  he  could,  retraced  his  way  with  them 
through  the  forest.  The  fort  consisted  of  several 
cabins,  surrounded  by  pickets  ten  feet  high,  plant- 
ed firmly  in  the  ground.     In  one  of  these,  Daniel 


58  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

Boone  found  a  shelter  for  his  family.  The  long 
desire  of  his  heart  was  at  last  gratified  :  he  had  a 
home  in  Kentucky.  lie  was  the  first  settler  of 
that  region,  and  (as  he  proudly  said)  his  "  wife 
and  daughter  the  first  white  women  that  ever 
stood  on  the  banks  of  Kentucky  river." 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


59 


CHAPTER    IV. 


T  was  now  the  season  of 
autumn  ;  the  trees  had  not  yet 
shed  their  leaves,  and  the  for- 
ests were  still  beautiful.  Mrs. 
Boone  felt  happy  as  she  look- 
ed upon  her  new  home .  Win- 
ter came,  and  glided  rapidly 
and  joyously  away.  Wiih 
their  axes  and  rifles,  the  men  in  the 
settlement  brought  in  constant  and 
ample  supplies  of  fuel  and  game, 
and  around  the  blazing  hearth  of 
Daniel  Boone  there  was  not  one  in  the 
family  who  sighed  for  the  old  home  on 
the  Yadkin.  Boone  naturally  supposed 
that  a  fear  of  the  Indians  would  be  the 
trouble  with  his  wife  ;  and  well  she 
might  dread  them,  remembering  the  loss  of  her 
son  formerly  in  the  pass  of  the  mountains.  For- 
tunately, however,  she  did  not  see  an  Indian 
through  the  season.  But  one  white  man  was 
killed  by  them  during  the  winter,  and  he  lost  his 


60  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

life  by  unfortunately  wandering  away  from  the 
fort  unarmed.  After  this,  the  other  settlers  were 
more  prudent ;  they  never  went  without  the  pick 
ets  for  fuel  without  taking  their  rifles. 

When  spring  opened,  they  were  soon  very  busy. 
A  small  clearing  without  the  pickets  was  first 
made  for  a  garden-spot.  Mrs.  Boone  and  her 
daughter  brought  out  their  stock  of  garden-seeds, 
and  commenced  cultivating  this,  while  the  men 
went  on  earnestly  in  the  work  of  preparing  for 
their  fields.  They  were  calculating  that  they 
were  making  their  homes  for  life.  Day  after  day 
the  neighborhood  resounded  with  the  crash  of  fall- 
ing tress,  as  these  hardy  men  levelled  the  forests. 
While  they  were  thus  engaged,  they  were  made 
happy  by  a  new  arrival.  Colonel  Calloway,  an 
old  companion  of  Boone's,  led  by  the  desire  of 
finding  his  old  friend  and  a  new  country,  came  out 
to  the  settlement  this  spring,  and  brought  with  him 
his  two  young  daughters.  Here,  then,  were  com- 
panions for  Boone's  daughter.  The  fathers  were 
happy,  and  the  mother  and  girls  delighted. 

Spring  had  not  passed  away,  however,  before 
they  were  in  sorrow  about  these  children.  When 
the  wild  flowers  began  to  bloom  in  the  woods, 
the  girls  were  in  the  habit  of  strolling  around  the 
fort  and  gathering  them  to  adorn  their  humble 
homes.  This  was  an  innocent  and  pleasant  occu- 
pation ;  it  pleased  the  girls  as  well  as  their  parents. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  61" 

They  were  only  cautioned  not  to  wander  far,  for 
fear  of  the  Indians.  This  caution,  it  seems,  was 
forgotten.  Near  the  close  of  a  beautiful  day  in 
July,  they  were  wandering,  as  usual,  and  the 
bright  flowers  tempted  them  to  stroll  thoughtlessly 
onward.  Indians  were  in  ambush ;  they  were 
suddenly  surrounded,  seized,  and  hurried  away,  in 
spite  of  their  screams  for  help.  They  were  car- 
ried by  their  captors  to  the  main  body  of  the  In- 
dian party,  some  miles  distant.  Night  came,  and 
the  girls  did  not  return  ;  search  was  made  for 
them,  and  they  were  nowhere  to  be  found.  The 
thought  now  flashed  upon  Boone  that  the  children 
were  prisoners  ;  the  Indians  had  captured  them. 
The  parents  were  well  nigh  frantic  :  possibly  the 
girls  were  murdered.  Boone  declared  that  he 
would  recover  his  child,  if  alive,  if  he  lost  his  own 
life  in  the  effort.  The  whole  settlement  was  at 
once  roused  :  every  man  offered  to  start  off  with 
the  two  fathers  in  search  of  the  children.  But 
Boone  would  not  have  them  all ;  some  must  re- 
main behind,  to  protect  the  settlement.  Of  the 
whole  number  he  chose  seven  ;  he  and  Calloway 
headed  them ;  and,  in  less  time  than  I  have  been 
telling  the  story,  laden  with  their  knapsacks  and 
rifles,  they  were  off  in  pursuit. 

Which  way  were  they  to  go  ?     It  was  a  long 
time  before  they  could  find  a  track  of  the  party. 
The  wily  Indians,  as  usual,  had  used  all  their  cun- 
6 


62  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

ning  in  hiding  their  footprints  and  breaking  theif 
trail.  Covering  their  tracks  with  leaves  ;  walking 
at  right  angles  occasionally  from  the  main  path  ; 
crossing  brooks  by  walking  in  them  for  some  time, 
and  leaving  them  at  a  point  far  from  where  they 
entered  :  all  this  had  been  practised,  and  I  pre- 
sume that  the  fathers  never  would  have  got  on  the 
track  if  the  girls  had  not  been  as  cunning  as  their 
captors.  After  wandering  about  for  some  time, 
they  came  at  length  to  a  brook,  and  waded  along  it 
for  a  great  while  in  search  of  footprints.  They 
looked  faithfully  far  up  and  down  the  stream,  for 
they  knew  the  Indian  stratagem.  Presently  Cal- 
loway leaped  up  for  joy.  "  God  bless  my  child  !" 
cried  he  ;  "  they  have  gone  this  way."  He  had 
picked  up  a  little  piece  of  riband  which  one  of 
his  daughters  had  dropped,  purposely  to  mark  the 
trail.  Now  they  were  on  the  track.  Travelling 
on  as  rapidly  as  they  could,  from  time  to  time  they 
picked  up  shreds  of  handkerchiefs,  or  fragments 
of  their  dresses,  that  the  girls  had  scattered  by 
the  way.  Before  the  next  day  ended,  they  were 
still  more  clearly  on  the  track.  They  reached  a 
soft,  muddy  piece  of  ground,  and  found  all  the 
footprints  of  the  party ;  they  were  now  able  to  tell 
the  number  of  the  Indians.  The  close  of  the  next 
day  brought  them  still  nearer  to  the  objects  of 
their  search.  Night  had  set  in  ;  they  were  still 
wandering  on,  when,  upon  reaching  a  small  hill; 


DANIEL    BOONE.  63 

they  saw  a  camp-fire  in  the  distance.  They  were 
now  delighted  ;  this  surely  was  the  party  that  had 
captured  the  girls.  Everything  was  left  to  the 
management  of  Boone.  He  brought  his  men  as 
near  the  fire  as  he  dared  approach,  and  sheltered 
them  from  observation  under  the  brow  of  a  hill. 
Calloway  and  another  man  were  then  selected 
from  the  group  ;  the  rest  were  told  that  they  might 
go  to  sleep  :  they  were,  however,  to  sleep  on  their 
arms,  ready  to  start  instantly  at  a  given  signal. 
Calloway  was  to  go  with  Boone  ;  the  other  man 
was  stationed  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  to  give  the 
alarm,  if  necessary.  The  two  parents  now  crept 
cautiously  onward  to  a  covert  of  bushes  not  far 
from  the  fire.  Looking  through,  they  saw  fifteen  or 
twenty  Indians  fast  asleep  in  the  camp  ;  but  where 
were  the  girls  ?  Crawling  to  another  spot,  they 
pushed  the  bushes  cautiously  aside,  and,  to  their 
great  joy,  saw  in  another  camp  the  daughters 
sleeping  in  each  other's  arms.  Two  Indians 
with  their  tomahawks  guarded  this  camp.  One 
seemed  to  be  asleep.  They  crept  gently  around 
in  the  rear  of  this.  They  were  afraid  to  use 
their  rifles  :  the  report  would  wake  the  other 
camp.  Calloway  was  to  stand  ready  to  shoot  the 
sleeping  Indian  if  he  stirred,  while  Boone  was  to 
creep  behind  the  other,  seize,  and  strangle  him. 
They  were  then  to  hurry  off  with  the  children. 
Unfortunately,  they  calculated  wrong :  the  Indian 


64  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

whom  they  supposed  to  be  sleeping  was  wide 
awake,  and,  as  Boone  drew  near,  his  shadow  was 
seen  by  this  man.  He  sprang  up,  and  the  woods 
rang  with  his  yell.  The  other  camp  was  roused ; 
the  Indians  came  rushing  to  this.  Boone's  first 
impulse  was  to  use  his  rifle,  but  Calloway's  pru- 
dence restrained  him.  Had  he  fired,  it  would  have 
been  certain  destruction  to  parents  and  children. 
They  surrendered  themselves  prisoners,  pleading 
earnestly  at  the  same  time  for  their  captive  daugh- 
ters. The  Indians  bound  them  with  cords,  placed 
guards  over  them,  and  then  retired  to  their  camp. 
The  poor  girls,  roused  by  the  tumult,  now  saw 
their  parents  in  this  pitiable  condition.  Here  they 
were,  likewise  made  captives,  for  their  love  of 
them. 

There  was  no  more  sleep  in  the  Indian  camp 
that  night.  Till  the  dawn  of  the  day  they  were  talk- 
ing of  what  should  be  done  to  the  new  prisoners : 
some  were  for  burning  them  at  the  stake  ;  others 
objected  to  this.  Boone  and  Calloway  were  to  be 
killed,  but  they  were  too  brave  to  be  killed  in  this 
way.  Some  proposed  making  them  run  the  gaunt- 
let. At  last  it  was  decided  (in  pity  for  the  girls,  it 
is  said)  that  the  parents  should  be  killed  in  a  more 
decent  and  quiet  way.  They  were  to  be  toma- 
hawked and  scalped,  and  the  girls  were  still  to  be 
kept  prisoners.  With  the  morning's  light  they 
started  out  to  execute  the  sentence.     That  the 


DANIEL    BOONE.  65 

p0  3r  girls  might  not  see  their  parents  murdered., 
the  men  were  led  off  to  the  woods,  and  there  lashed 
to  two  trees.  Two  of  the  savages  stood  before 
them  with  their  tomahawks,  while  the  rest  were 
singing  and  dancing  around  them.  At  length  the 
tomahawks  were  lifted  to  strike  them ;  at  that  instant 
the  crack  of  rifles  was  heard,  and  the  two  Indians 
fell  dead.  Another  and  another  report  was  heard  : 
others  fell,  and  the  rest  fled  in  dismay.  Boone's 
companions  had  saved  them.  All  night  long  they 
had  waited  for  the  signal :  none  had  been  given  ; 
they  had  heard  the  Indian  yell ;  they  feared  that 
they  were  taken.  They  had  watched  the  camp 
with  the  greatest  anxiety,  and  now  had  delivered 
them.  They  were  instantly  untied  ;  the  girls  were 
quickly  released,  and  in  the  anus  of  their  parents  ; 
and  they  all  started  joyously  homeward.  Mrs. 
Boone  was  delighted  to  see  them.  The  party  had 
been  so  long  gone,  that  she  feared  her  husband 
and  child  were  alike  lost  to  her  for  ever. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  when  men  found  out  that 
a  settlement  had  been  made  in  Kentucky,  others 
were  soon  ready  to  start  off  for  that  fertile  region. 
Accordingly,  we  find  many  arriving  this  year,  and 
settling  themselves  in  the  country.  Harrod,  Lo- 
gan, Ray,  Wagin,  Bowman,  and  many  other  fear- 
less spirits,  now  threw  themselves,  like  Boone, 
into  the  heart  of  the  wilderness,  and  made  their 
forts,  or  stations,  as  they  were  called.  These 
6* 


66  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

were  just  like  the  home  of  Boone — nothing  more 
than  a  few  log  cabins,  surrounded  by  pickets.  In- 
deed, the  country  began  now  to  assume  so  much 
importance  in  the  eyes  of  men,  that  the  Governor 
of  Virginia  thought  proper  to  take  some  notice 
of  it.  When  the  legislature  met,  he  recommended 
that  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county  of  Fin- 
castle — which  meant  all  the  large  tract  of  country 
west  of  the  Alleganies  now  known  as  Kentucky 
— should  be  made  into  a  separate  county,  by  the 
name  of  Kentucky.  The  legislature  thought  it 
well  to  follow  his  advice.  The  new  county  was 
made,  and  had  the  privilege  of  sending  two  mem- 
bers to  the  Virginia  legislature. 

Nor  is  it  surprising  that  the  Indians  began  now 
to  be  more  violent  than  ever  in  their  enmity.  They 
had  been  unwilling  before  that  a  white  man  should 
cross  their  path  as  they  roamed  over  their  hunting- 
grounds  ;  but  now,  when  they  saw  clearings  made, 
and  houses  built,  they  felt  that  the  whites  meant 
to  drive  them  for  ever  from  that  region.  Their 
hatred  consequently  increased  now  every  hour. 
Another  circumstance  at  this  time  served  to 
rouse  them  the  more  against  the  settlers.  If 
you  will  think  of  the  period  of  which  I  am 
speaking  (the  year  1776),  perhaps  you  may  guess 
what  it  was.  The  colonists  of  America  in  that 
year,  you  will  remember,  declared  themselves  in- 
dependent of  Great  Britain.     In  the  war  which 


DANIEL    BOONE.  67 

followed  (known  among  us  always  as  the  Revolu- 
tionary War),  England  struggled  hard  to  subdue 
them  ;  nor  was  she  always  choice  as  to  the  means 
which  she  used  for  the  purpose.  She  did  not  hes- 
itate even  to  rouse  the  red  men  of  the  forests,  and 
give  them  arms  to  fight  the  colonists.  They  were 
not  only  turned  loose  upon  them  with  their  own 
tomahawks  and  scalping-knives,  but  were  well 
supplied  with  British  rifles  and  balls.  All  the  new 
settlements  in  the  land  were  troubled  with  them, 
and  Kentucky  had  to  bear  her  part  of  the  sorrow. 
These  Indians  would  scatter  themselves  in  small 
parties,  and  hang  secretly  for  days  and  nights 
around  the  infant  stations.  Until  one  is  acquaint- 
ed with  Indian  stratagems,  he  can  hardly  tell  how 
cunning  these  people  are.  By  day  they  would 
hide  themselves  in  the  grass,  or  behind  the  stumps 
of  trees,  near  the  pathways  to  the  fields  or  springs 
of  water,  and  it  was  certain  death  to  the  white 
man  who  travelled  that  way.  At  night  they  would 
creep  up  to  the  very  gateway  of  the  pickets,  and 
watch  for  hours  for  a  white  man.  If  any  part  of 
his  person  was  exposed,  he  was  sure  to  catch  a 
rifle-ball.  It  was  impossible  to  discover  them, 
even  when  their  mischief  was  done.  They  would 
lie  in  the  grass  flat  on  their  bellies  for  days,  al- 
most under  the  very  palisades.  Sometimes  an  In- 
dian yell  would  be  heard  near  one  point  of  the  fort, 
startling  all  the  settlers — a  yell  raised  only  to  draw 


68  THE    ADVEN'TURES    07 

them  all  in  one  direction,  Avliile  the  Indians  did 
their  mischief  in  another  In  this  sneaking  mode 
of  warfare,  men,  women,  and  children,  were  killed 
in  many  places  ;  and  not  unfrequently  whole  droves 
of  cattle  were  cut  off. 

At  length,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  settlers',  the 
Indians  began  to  show  themselves  more  boldly : 
for  anything  was  better  than  these  secret  ambushes 
of  the  savages  ;  an  open  enemy  is  not  so  much  to 
be  dreaded  as  a  secret  one.  Boonesborough  and 
Harrodsburgh  (a  settlement  made  by  James  Har- 
rod,  a  bold  adventurer  from  the  banks  of  the  Mo- 
nongahela)  were  now  the  principal  stations.  Tow- 
ard these,  new  emigrants  were  from  time  to  time 
moving,  and  against  these  stations,  as  being  the 
strongest,  the  Indians  felt  the  greatest  hatred,  and 
directed  their  principal  attacks.  Early  in  the 
spring  of  1777,  a  party  was  moving  toward  Har- 
rodsburgh :  fortunately,  the  Indians  attacked  them  ; 
for,  though  two  whites  were  killed,  the  attack 
probably  saved  the  settlement.  It  was  only  four 
miles  from  the  place,  and  the  Indians  were  now 
on  their  way  there.  One  young  man  escaped  in 
the  midst  of  the  fight  to  give  the  alarm  at  Harrods- 
burgh. The  station  was  instantly  put  in  a  state 
of  defence.  Ere  long,  the  Indians  appeared.  A 
brisk  firing  at  once  commenced  on  both  sides  ;  the 
savages  saw  one  of  their  men  fall,  and  finding  that 
they  were  not  likely  to  gain  any  advantage,  soon 


DANIEL    BOONE.  69 

Bcattered  for  the  woods.     The  whites  lost  one  man 
also,  and  three  were  slightly  wounded. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  a  party  of  one  hundred 
savages  appeared  boldly  before  Boonesborough. 
Every  man  of  them  was  armed  with  his  gun,  as 
well  as  bow  and  arrows.  Boone,  however,  was 
prepared  for  them,  and  gave  them  a  warm  recep- 
tion—so warm,  that  they  soon  gladly  retreated. 
How  many  of  their  men  were  killed  it  was  im- 
possible to  tell,  for  they  dragged  away  their  dead 
with  them.  In  the  fort  one  man  was  killed,  and 
four  were  badly  wounded. 

Their  loss  this  time  only  served  to  make  them 
more  revengeful.    In  July  following  they  again 
came  against  Boonesborough,  resolved  upon  ven- 
geance.    They  numbered  this  time  more  than  two 
hundred.     To  prevent  any  of  the  white  settlements 
from  sending  aid  to  Boonesborough,  they  had  sent 
off  small  parties  to  molest  them,  and  keep  them 
busy.     The  savages  now  commenced  their  attack, 
and  for  two  days  a  constant  firing  was  kept  up. 
At  last,  finding  their  efforts  again  idle,  they  raised 
a  loud  yell,  and  returned  to  the    forests.     The 
whites  could  now  count  their  slain  and  wounded 
as  they  dragged  them  off:  seven  were  killed,  and 
numbers  wounded,  while  in  the  fort  only  one  white 
man  was  slain.     In  spite  of  their  numbers  and 
their  cunning,  they  did  but  little  harm  :  for  Boone 
was  never  found  sleeping  ;  he  knew  that  Indians 


70  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

were  his  neighbors,  and  he  was  always  ready  for 
them.  After  this,  they  learned  to  dread  him  more 
than  ever.  He  now  went  by  the  name  of  the 
"  Great  Long  Knife:' 

Attacks  of  this  kind  were  made  from  time  to 
time  openly  against  the  settlements,  but  especially 
against  these  two  principal  stations.  They  all 
ended  very  much  in  the  same  way,  and  it  would 
only  weary  you  if  I  should  attempt  to  speak  of 
them.  It  is  enough  for  you  to  know  that  the 
whites  were  always  on  the  lookout,  and  that 
Boone  was  regarded  as  their  principal  leader  and 
protector.  We  will  pass  on,  therefore,  to  some- 
thincr  more  interesting. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  stations  of  these 
settlers  were  usually  built,  for  comfort's  sake,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  salt  licks  or  springs  ;  and  near 
such  a  lick,  as  you  will  remember,  Boonesborough 
stood.  The  supply  of  salt,  however,  was  not  suf- 
ficient ;  new  settlers  were  often  arriving,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  seek  a  place  which  would 
afford  more  of  that  article.  Boone  was  the  father 
of  the  settlement,  and  he  undertook  to  find  it. 
Having  selected  thirty  men  as  his  companions,  on 
the  1st  of  January,  1778,  he  started  for  the  Blue 
Licks,  on  Licking  river — a  stream,  as  you  know, 
emptying  itself  into  the  Ohio  opposite  where  Cin- 
cinnati now  stands.  Upon  reaching  this  spot,  the 
thirty  men  were  soon  very  busy  in  making  salt. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  71 

Boone,  having  no  taste  for  the  work,  sauntered  off 
to  employ  himself  in  shooting  game  for  the  com- 
pany. He  had  wandered  some  distance  from  the 
river  one  day,  when  suddenly  he  came  upon  two 
Indians  armed  with  muskets.  It  was  impossible  for 
him  to  retreat,  and  the  chances  were  against  him 
if  he  stood.  His  usual  coolness  did  not  forsake 
him  ;  he  instantly  jumped  behind  a  tree.  As  the 
Indians  came  within  gun-shot,  he  exposed  himself 
on  the  side  of  the  tree :  one  savage  immediately 
fired,  and  Boone  dodged  the  ball.  One  shot  was 
thus  thrown  away,  and  this  was  just  what  he  de- 
sired. Exposing  himself  immediately  in  precisely 
the  same  way,  the  other  musket  was  discharged 
by  the  other  Indian,  to  as  little  purpose.  He  now 
stepped  boldly  out ;  the  Indians  were  trying  hard 
to  load  again  ;  he  raised  his  rifle,  and  one  savage 
fell  dead.  He  was  now  on  equal  terms  with  the 
other.  Drawing  his  hunting-knife,  he  leaped  for- 
ward and  placed  his  foot  upon  the  body  of  the  dead 
Indian  ;  the  other  raised  his  tomahawk  to  strike  ; 
but  Boone,  with  his  rifle  in  his  left  hand,  warded 
off"  the  blow,  while  with  his  right  he  plunged  his 
knife  into  the  heart  of  the  savage.  His  two  foes 
lay  dead  before  him.  If  you  should  ever  visit 
Washington  city,  you  will  see  a  memorial  of  this 
deed.  The  act  is  in  sculpture,  over  the  southern 
door  of  the  rotundo  of  the  capitol. 

After  this  he  continued  his  hunting  excursions, 


72  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

as  usual,  for  the  benefit  of  his  party  ;  but  he  was 
not  so  fortunate  the  next  time  he  met  with  Indians. 
On  the  7th  of  February,  as  he  was  roaming  through 
the  woods,  he  saw  a  party  of  one  hundred  savages 
on  their  way  to  attack  Boonesborough.  His  onlj 
chance  for  escape  now  w^as  to  run.  He  instantly 
fled,  but  the  swiftest  warriors  gave  chase,  and  be- 
fore a  great  while  he  was  overtaken  and  made  a 
prisoner.  He  was,  of  all  men,  the  one  whom  they 
desired  to  take  ;  they  could  now  gain,  as  they 
thought,  some  information  about  Boonesborough. 
They  now  carried  him  back  to  the  Blue  Licks. 
As  they  drew  near,  Boone,  knowing  that  it  was 
idle  to  resist,  made  signs  to  the  salt-makers  to  sur- 
render themselves,  'i'his  they  did,  and  thus  the 
savages  soon  had  in  their  possession  twenty-eight 
captives.  Fortunately  for  themselves,  three  of  the 
men  had  started  homeward  with  a  supply  of  salt, 
and  thus  escaped.  j^ 

Now  was  the  time  for  the  savages  to  have  at- 
tacked Boonesborough  ;  for,  with  the  loss  of  so 
many  men,  and  Boone  their  leader,  we  may  readily 
suppose  that  the  station  might  have  surrendered. 
Flushed.,  however,  with  the  capture  of  their  pris- 
oners, they  seem  not  to  have  thought  of  it  any 
longer. 

The  prisoners  were  marched  immediately  to  Old 
Chilicothe,  the  principal  Indian  town  on  the  Little 
Miami,  where  they  arrived  on  the  18th.     There 


DANIEL    BOONE.  73 

was  great  rejoicing  over  them  when  they  reached 
this  old  settlement  of  the  savages,  though  Boone 
says  they  were  "  treated  as  kindly  as  prisoners 
could  expect."  Early  in  the  next  month  Boone 
with  ten  of  his  men  was  marched  off  to  Detroit 
by  forty  Indians.  Here  Governor  Hamilton,  the 
British  commander  of  that  post,  treated  them  with 
much  kindness.  The  ten  men  were  soon  deliv- 
ered up  for  a  small  ransom.  But  when  the 
Governor  offered  them  one  hundred  pounds  to 
give  up  Boone,  that  he  might  allow  him  to  return 
home,  they  refused  to  part  with  him  ;  they  looked 
upon  him  as  too  dangerous  an  enemy  to  be  allowed 
to  go  free  upon  any  terms.  Several  English  gen- 
tlemen were  moved  with  pity  when  they  saw  Boone 
thus  a  helpless  prisoner,  and  offered  to  supply  his 
wants.  He  thanked  them  for  their  feeling,  but  re- 
fused to  receive  any  aid,  stating  that  he  never  ex- 
pected to  be  able  to  return  their  kindness,  and 
therefore  was  unwilling  to  receive  it.  The  truth 
was,  he  was  not  disposed  to  receive  assistance 
from  the  enemies  of  his  country. 

With  no  other  prisoner  than  Boone,  the  party 
now  started  again  for  Old  Chilicothe.  As  they 
drew  near,  after  a  very  fatiguing  march,  Boone 
thought  he  understood  why  they  had  refused  to 
part  with  him.  Before  they  entered  the  village, 
they  shaved  his  head,  painted  his  face,  and  dressed 
him  like  themselves  ;  they  then  placed  in  his 
7 


74  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

hands  a  long  white  staff,  ornamented  with  deers* 
tails.  The  chief  of  the  party  then  raised  a  yell, 
and  all  the  warriors  from  the  village  answered  it, 
and  soon  made  their  appearance.  Four  young 
warriors  commenced  singing  as  they  came  toward 
him.  The  two  first,  each  bearing  a  calumet,  took 
him  by  the  arms  and  marched  him  to  a  cabin  in 
the  village  ;  here  he  was  to  remain  until  his  fate 
was  made  known  to  him.  Of  all  strange  customs 
of  the  Indians  (and  he  had  seen  many  of  them), 
this  was  the  strangest  to  him.  It  is  not  wonder- 
ful that  he  thought  he  was  now  to  die. 

Yet  this  was  a  common  custom  (it  is  said)  among 
the  Shawanese,  who  inhabited  this  village.  Pris- 
oners were  often  thus  carried  to  some  cabin,  and 
then  the  Indian  living  in  the  cabin  decided  what 
should  be  done — whether  the  prisoner  should  die, 
or  be  adopted  into  the  tribe.  It  happened  that  in 
this  cabin  lived  an  old  Indian  woman,  who  had 
lately  lost  a  son  in  battle.  She,  of  course,  was  to 
decide  Boone's  fate.  She  looked  at  him  earnestly, 
admired  his  noble  bearing  and  cheerful  face,  and 
at  length  declared  that  he  should  live.  He  should 
be  her  son,  she  said  ;  he  should  be  to  her  the  son 
whom  she  had  lost.  The  young  warriors  instantly 
announced  to  him  his  fate,  and  the  fact  was  soon 
proclaimed  through  the  village.  Food  was  brought 
out  and  set  before  him  ;  and  every  effort,  which  In- 
dian love  could  think  of,  was  used  to  make  him 


DANIEL    BOONE.  75 

happy.  He  was  fairly  one  of  the  tribe  ;  and  the 
old  woman  who  was  to  be  his  mother  was  espe- 
cially delighted. 

He  was  now  as  free  as  the  rest ;  his  only  sor- 
row Avas  that  he  had  to  live  among  them.  He 
knew,  too,  that  if  he  should  be  caught  trying  to 
make  liis  escape,  it  would  be  certain  death  to  him. 
He  pretended,  therefore,  to  be  cheerful  and  hap- 
py ;  and  fortunately  his  old  habits  enabled  him  to 
play  his  part  well.  Like  them,  he  was  a  man  of 
the  woods,  and  as  fond  of  hunting  as  any  of  them. 
They  all  soon  became  attached  to  him,  and  treated 
him  with  the  utmost  confidence. 

Sometimes  large  parties  would  go  out  to  try 
their  skill  at  their  sports  of  racing  and  shooting  at 
a  mark.  Boone  was  always  with  them  ;  he  knew, 
however,  that  in  trials  of  this  kind  the  Indians 
were  always  jealous  if  they  were  beaten,  and 
therefore  he  had  to  act  very  prudently.  At  racing, 
they  could  excel  him  ;  but  at  shooting,  he  was 
more  than  a  match  for  any  of  them.  Still,  when 
the  target  was  set  up,  he  was  always  certain  to  be 
beaten.  If  he  shot  too  well,  they  would  be  jeal- 
ous and  angry ;  if  he  shot  badly,  they  would  hold 
him  in  contempt :  and  therefore  he  would  manage 
to  make  good  shots,  and  yet  never  be  the  success- 
ful man.  He  knew  too  much  of  Indians  not  to 
conduct  himself  properly. 

Sometimes  they  would  start  out  upon  hunting- 


76  THE    ADVEXXrRES    OF 

parties.  Here  Boone  was  at  home  ;  there  was  no 
jealousy  when  he  brought  down  a  buffalo  or  a  deer 
with  his  rifle-hall.  lie  might  do  his  best ;  they 
were  true  hunters  themselves,  and  were  delighted 
with  every  successful  shot.  Returning  to  the  vil- 
lage, Boone  would  always  visit  the  Shawanese 
chief,  and  present  him  a  portion  of  his  game.  By 
this  kindness  and  civility  he  completely  won  the 
heart  of  the  chief,  and  was  notunfrequently  consult- 
ed by  him  oh  important  matters.  Thus  he  passed 
his  time,  joining  in  all  their  modes  of  living;  he 
was  beloved  by  the  old  woman,  the  chief,  and  all 
the  tribe  :  and  none  suspected  that  he  was  not 
contented  and  happy. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  a  large  party  was  starting 
from  the  village  for  the  salt-licks  on  the  Scioto,  to 
make  salt.  Boone  pretended  to  be  indifferent 
whether  he  went  or  not.  The  truth  was,  how- 
ever, that  he  was  very  anxious  to  go,  for  he  thought 
it  would  afford  a  fine  opportunity  for  him  to  escape. 
He  seemed  so  indifferent  about  the  matter,  that  the 
party  urged  him  to  accompany  them,  and  off  he 
started.  For  ten  days  most  of  them  were  busy 
making  salt,  while  Boone  and  two  or  three  of  the 
best  marksmen  hunted  for  the  benefit  of  the  rest. 
He  watched  his  chance  for  escape,  but  none  oc- 
curred ;  he  was  closely  observed  ;  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  attempt  it.  To  his  great  sorrow,  he 
was  forced  to  return  home  with  the  salt-makers. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  77 

They  liad  scarcely  got  back,  when  the  whole 
village  was  summoned  to  the  council-he  use,  to  at- 
tend a  council  of  war.  Boone,  as  belonging  to 
one  of  the  principal  families,  went  to  this  council. 
Here  he  met  four  hundred  and  fifty  armed  Indians, 
all  gayly  painted.  One  of  the  oldest  warriors  then 
struck  a  large  drum,  and  marched  with  the  war- 
standard  three  times  round  the  council-house  :  this 
was  the  sure  signal  that  they  were  about  to  make 
war  upon  some  enemy.  But  who  was  the  enemy  ? 
What  was  Boone's  surprise  when  it  was  announced 
that  they  meant  to  attack  Boonesborough  !  He  re- 
solved now  that  he  would  escape,  even  at  every 
hazard,  and  alarm  the  settlement.  Still  his  pru- 
dence did  not  forsake  him. 

The  old  warriors  at  once  commenced  gathering 
together  a  supply  of  parched  corn,  and  beating  up 
more  recruits  for  the  expedition.  All  the  new 
men  (Boone  among  the  rest,  for  he  was  forced  to 
join  them)  were  then  marched  off  to  the  "  winter- 
house"  to  drink  the  war-drink.  This  was  a  mix- 
ture of  water  and  bitter  herbs  and  roots,  and  was 
to  be  drank  steadily  for  three  days,  during  which 
time  no  man  was  to  eat  a  morsel.  Even  if  a  deer 
or  buffalo  passed  by,  no  man  was  to  kill  it ;  the  fast 
must  be  kept.  In  fact,  no  man  was  allowed  even 
to  sit  down,  or  rest  himself  by  leaning  against  a 
tree.  This  was  done  by  the  old  men  to  purify 
"the  young  warriors,  as  they  said,  and  to  gain  the 
7* 


78  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

favor  of  the  Great  Spirit.  All  this  was  a  common 
practice  with  the  tribe  before  they  went  to  battle  ; 
and  the  more  strictly  the  fast  was  kept,  the  greater 
(as  they  supposed)  were  the  chances  of  success. 
During  these  three  days,  Boone,  like  the  rest,  kept 
the  fast,  drank  the  war-drink,  and  did  not  even 
leave  the  "  medicine-ground." 

The  fast  being  over,  they  fired  their  guns, 
yelled,  danced,  and  sang ;  and  in  the  midst  of  this 
noise  the  march  commenced.  The  leading  war- 
chief,  bearing  the  medicine-bag,  or  budget  (as  it 
was  called),  went  before  ;  the  rest  followed  in 
single  file.  Nothing  but  shouting  and  yelling,  and 
the  noise  of  gims,  was  heard,  as  they  passed 
thiough  the  village.  When  they  reached  the 
woods,  all  the  noise  ceased  ;  they  were  fairly  on 
their  march,  and  that  march  was  to  be  made  after 
the  Indian  fashion,  in  dead  silence.  For  several 
days  this  dead  march  was  kept  up,  Boone  looking 
every  hour  for  his  chance  of  escape.  At  length, 
early  one  morning,  a  deer  dashed  by  the  line. 
Boone  leaped  eagerly  after  him,  and  started  in 
pursuit.  No  sooner  was  he  out  of  sight  of  the 
Indians,  than  he  pressed  for  Boonesborough.  He 
knew  they  would  give  chase,  and  therefore  he 
doubled  his  track,  waded  in  streams,  and  did  every- 
thing that  he  could  to  throw  them  off  his  trail. 
Every  sound  startled  him  ;  he  thought  the  Indians 
were  behind  him.     With  no  food  but  roots  and 


DAVIF.T     BOONE  79 

berries,  and  scarcely  time  to  devour  these,  he 
pushed  through  swamps  and  thickets  for  his  old 
home.  Now  or  never  was  his  chance  for  liberty, 
and  as  such  he  used  it.  At  length,  after  wan- 
dering nearly  two  hundred  miles,  on  the  fourth  day 
he  reached  Boonesborough  in  safety. 


bO 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF 


CHAPTER    V. 


EFORE  we  go  on,  let  me 
tell  you  of  some  of  the  cu- 
rious customs  which  Boone 
noticed  among  the  Indians, 
during  his  captivity.  He  had 
a  fine  opportunity  for  observa- 
tion, and  I  think  these  strange 
customs  will  interest  you. 
It  is  not  wonderful  that  Indian 
.men  and  women  are  so  hardy  ;  they 
are  trained  to  it  from  their  youth : 
and  Boone  tells  us  how  they  are 
trained.  When  a  child  is  only  eight 
o  years  old,  this  training  commences  ;  he 
kj?  is  then  made  to  fast  frequently  half  a 
day ;  when  he  is  twelve,  he  is  made  to 
tast  a  whole  day.  During  the  time  of  this  fast, 
the  child  is  left  alone,  and  his  face  is  always 
blacked.  This  mode  of  hardening  them  is  kept 
up  with  girls  until  they  are  fourteen — with  boys 
until  they  are  eighteen.     At  length,  when  a  boy 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


81 


has  reached  the  age  of  eighteen,  his  parents  tell 
him  that  his  education  is  completed,  and  that  he  is 
old  enough  to  be  a  man.     His  face  is  now  to  be 
blacked  for  the  last  time.     He  is  taken  to  a  soli- 
tary cabin  far  away  from  the  village  ;  his  face  is 
blacked,  and   then  his   father   makes    to   him   a 
speech  of  this  kind  :  "  My  son,  the  Great  Spirit 
has  allowed  you  to  live  to  see  this  day.     We  have 
all  noticed  your  conduct  since   I   first  began  to 
black  your  face.  All  people  will  understand  wheth- 
er you  have   followed  your  father's  advice,  and 
they  will  treat  you  accordingly.     You  must  now 
remain  here  until  I  come  after  you."     The  lad  is 
then  left  alone.     His  father  then  goes  off  hunting, 
as  though  nothing  had  happened,  and  leaves  his 
boy  to  bear  his  hunger  as  long  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  starve  and  live.     At  length  he  prepares  a 
great  feast,  gathers  his  friends  together,  and  then 
returns.     The  lad  is  then  brought  home,  his  face 
is  washed  in  cold  water,  his  hair  is  shaved,  leav- 
ing nothing  but  the  scalp-lock  ;  they  all  commence 
eating,  but  the  food  of  the  lad  is  placed  before  him 
in  a  separate  dish.     This  being  over,  a  looking- 
glass  and  a  bag  of  paint  are  then  presented  to  him. 
Then  they  all  praise  him  for  his  firmness,  and  tell 
him  that  he  is  a  man.     Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a 
boy  is  hardly  ever  known  to  break  his  fast  when 
he  is  blacked  this  way  for  the  last  time.     It  is 
looked  upon  as  something  base,  and  they  have  a 


83  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

dread  that  the  Great  Spirit  will  punish  them  if 
they  are  disobedient  to  their  parents. 

Another  curious  habit  which  surprised  Boone 
was  that  of  continually  changing  names.  A  white 
man  carries  the  same  name  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave,  but  among  these  people  it  was  very  differ- 
ent. Their  principal  arms,  as  you  know,  are  the 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife,  and  he  who  can 
take  the  greatest  number  of  scalps  is  the  greatest 
man.  From  time  to  time,  as  warriors  would  re- 
turn from  an  attack  upon  some  enemy,  these  new 
names  would  begin  to  be  known.  Each  man 
would  count  the  number  of  scalps  he  had  taken, 
and  a  certain  number  entitled  him  to  a  new  name, 
in  token  of  his  bravery.  It  is  not  wonderful  that 
they  were  revengeful,  when  they  were  stimulated 
by  this  sort  of  ambition.  Besides  this,  they  be- 
lieved that  he  who  took  the  scalp  of  a  brave  man 
received  at  once  all  his  courage  and  other  good 
qualities  ;  and  this  made  them  more  eager  in  their 
thirst  for  scalps.  In  this  way,  names  of  warriors 
were  sometimes  changed  three  or  four  times  in  a 
year. 

Marriages  in  this  tribe  were  conducted  very  de- 
cently. When  a  young  warrior  desired  to  marry, 
he  assembled  all  his  friends,  and  named  the  wo- 
man whom  he  wished  for  his  wife.  His  relations 
then  received  his  present,  and  took  it  to  the  parents 
of  the  young  woman.     If  they  were  pleased  with 


DANIEL    BOONE.  83 

the  proposal,  they  would  dress  the  young  woman 
in  her  gayest  clothes,  and  take  her,  with  bundles 
of  presents,  to  the  friends  of  the  warrior ;  then,  if 
she  pleased,  she  was  to  be  married.  There  was 
no  compulsion  in  the  matter.  If  she  was  not  sat- 
isfied, she  had  only  to  return  his  present  to  the 
young  warrior,  and  this  was  considered  a  refusal. 

Their  mode  of  burying  their  dead  was  very 
much  like  that  of  all  the  Indians.  The  dead  body 
was  sometimes  placed  in  a  pen  made  of  sticks  and 
covered  over  with  bark  ;  sometimes  it  was  placed 
in  a  grave,  and  covered  first  with  bark,  and  then 
with  dirt ;  and  sometimes,  especially  in  the  case 
of  the  young,  it  was  placed  in  a  rude  cofhn,  and 
suspended  from  the  top  of  a  tree.  This  last  was 
a  common  mode  of  infant  burial,  and  the  mother 
of  the  child  would  often  be  found,  long  after, 
standing  under  the  tree,  and  singing  songs  to  her 
babe. 

Boone  witnessed,  too,  the  mode  in  which  war- 
parties  start  off  for  war.  The  budget,  or  medicine- 
bag,  is  first  made  up.  This  bag  contains  some- 
thing belonging  to  each  man  of  the  parly — some- 
thing usually  representing  some  animal,  such  as 
the  skin  of  a  snake,  the  tail  of  a  buffalo,  the  horns 
of  a  buck,  or  the  feathers  of  a  bird.  It  is  always 
regarded  as  a  very  sacred  thing.  The  leader  of 
the  party  goes  before  with  this  ;  the  rest  follow  in 
single   file.     When    they  come    to   a  stand,  the 


84  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

budget  is  laid  down  in  front,  and  no  man  may 
pass  it  without  permission.  To  keep  their  thoughts 
upon  the  enterprise  in  which  they  are  engaged,  no 
man  is  allowed  to  talk  of  women  or  his  home.  At 
night,  when  they  encamp,  the  heart  of  whatever 
animal  has  been  killed  during  the  day  is  cut  into 
small  pieces  and  then  burnt.  During  the  burning 
no  man  is  allowed  to  step  across  the  fire,  but  must 
always  walk  around  it  in  the  direction  of  the  sun. 
When  they  spy  the  enemy,  and  the  attack  is  to  be 
made,  the  war-budget  is  opened.  Each  man  takes 
out  his  budget,  or  totem^  and  fastens  it  to  his 
body.  After  the  fight,  each  man  again  returns  his 
totem  to  the  leader.  They  are  all  again  tied  up, 
and  given  to  the  man  who  has  taken  the  first 
scalp.  He  then  leads  the  party  in  triumph  home. 
Boone  had  not  long  been  a  prisoner  among  them 
when  a  successful  war-party  returned  home  and 
celebrated  their  victory.  When  the  party  came 
within  a  day's  march  of  the  village,  a  messenger 
was  sent  in  to  tell  of  their  success.  An  order 
was  instantly  issued  that  every  cabin  should  be 
swept  clean,  and  the  women  as  quickly  commenced 
the  work.  When  they  had  finished,  the  cabins 
were  all  inspected,  to  see  if  they  wxre  in  proper 
order.  Next  day  the  party  approached  the  village. 
They  were  all  frightfully  painted,  and  each  man 
had  a  bunch  of  white  feathers  on  his  head.  They 
were  marching  in  single  file,  the  chief  of  the  party 


DANIEL    BOONE.  85 

leading  the  way,  bearing  in  one  hand  a  branch  of 
cedar,  laden  with  the  scalps  they  had  taken,  and 
all  chanting  their  war-song.  As  they  entered  the 
village,  the  chief  led  the  way  to  the  war-pole, 
which  stood  in  front  of  the  council-house.  In  this 
house  the  council-fire  was  then  burning.  The 
waiter,  or  Etissu  of  the  leader,  then  fixed  two 
blocks  of  wood  near  the  war-pole,  and  placed  up- 
on them  a  kind  of  ark,  which  was  regarded  by 
them  as  one  of  their  most  sacred  things.  The 
chief  now  ordered  that  all  should  sit  down.  He 
then  inquired  whether  his  cabin  was  prepared,  and 
everything  made  ready,  according  to  the  custom 
of  his  fathers.  They  then  rose  up  and  commenced 
the  war-whoop,  as  they  marched  round  the  war- 
pole.  The  ark  was  then  taken  and  carried  with 
great  solemnity  into  the  council-house,  and  here 
the  whole  party  remained  three  days  and  nights, 
separate  from  the  rest  of  the  people.  Their  first 
business  now  was  to  wash  themselves  clean,  and 
sprinkle  themselves  with  a  mixture  of  bitter  herbs. 
While  they  were  thus  in  the  house,  all  their  fe- 
male relatives,  after  having  bathed  and  dressed 
themselves  in  their  finest  clothes,  placed  them- 
selves in  two  lines  facing  each  other  on  each  side 
of  the  door.  Here  they  continued  singing  a  slow  mo- 
notonous song  all  day  and  night ;  the  song  was  kept 
up  steadily  for  one  minute,  with  intervals  of  ten 
minutes  of  dead  silence  between.  About  once  in 
8 


86  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

three  hours  the  chief  would  march  out  at  the  head  of 
his  warriors,  raise  the  war-whoop,  and  pass  around 
the  war-pole,  bearing  his  branch  of  cedar.  This 
was  all  that  was  done  for  the  whole  three  days  and 
nights.  At  length  the  purification  was  ended,  and 
upon  each  of  their  cabins  was  placed  a  twig  of  the 
cedar  with  a  fragment  of  the  scalps  fastened  to  it, 
to  satisfy  the  ghosts  of  their  departed  friends.  All 
were  now  quiet  as  usual,  except  the  leader  of  the 
party  and  his  waiter,  who  kept  up  the  purification 
three  days  and  nights  longer.  When  he  had  fin- 
ished, the  budget  was  hung  up  before  his  door  for 
thirty  or  forty  days,  and  from  time  to  time  Indians 
of  the  party  would  be  seen  singing  and  dancing 
before  it.  When  Boone  asked  the  meaning  of  all 
this  strange  ceremony,  they  answered  him  by  a 
word  which  he  says  meant  hoJy. 

As  this  party  had  brought  in  no  prisoners,  he 
did  not  now  witness  their  horrible  mode  of  torture. 
Before  he  left  them,  however,  he  saw  enough  of 
their  awful  cruelty  in  this  way.  Sometimes  the 
poor  prisoner  would  be  tied  to  a  stake,  a  pile  of 
green  wood  placed  around  him,  fire  applied,  and 
the  poor  wretch  left  to  his  horrible  fate,  while, 
amid  shouts  and  yells,  the  Indians  departed. 
Sometimes  he  would  be  forced  to  run  the  gauntlet 
between  two  rows  of  Indians,  each  one  striking 
at  him  with  a  club  until  he  fell  dead.  Others 
would  be  fastened  between  two  stakes,  their  arms 


DANIEL    BOONE.  87 

and  legs  stretched  to  each  of  them,  and  then  quick- 
ly burnt  by  a  blazing  fire.  A  common  mode  was 
to  pinion  the  arms  of  the  prisoner,  and  then  tie  one 
end  of  a  grape-vine  around  his  neck,  while  the 
other  was  fastened  to  the  stake.  A  fire  was  then 
kindled,  and  the  poor  wretch  would  walk  the  circle ; 
this  gave  the  savages  the  comfort  of  seeing  the 
poor  creature  literally  roasting,  while  his  agony 
was  prolonged.  Perhaps  this  was  the  most  popu- 
lar mode,  too,  because  all  the  women  and  children 
could  join  in  it.  They  were  there,  with  their  bun- 
dles of  dry  sticks,  to  keep  the  fire  blazing,  and 
their  long  switches,  to  beat  the  prisoner.  Fearful 
that  their  victim  might  die  too  soon,  and  thus  es- 
cape their  cruelty,  the  women  would  knead  cakes 
of  clay  and  put  them  on  the  scull  of  the  poor  suf- 
ferer, that  the  fire  might  not  reach  his  brain  and 
instantly  kill  him.  As  the  poor  frantic  wretch 
would  run  round  the  circle,  they  would  yell,  dance, 
and  sing,  and  beat  him  with  their  switches,  until 
he  fell  exhausted.  At  other  times,  a  poor  prisoner 
would  be  tied,  and  then  scalding  water  would  be 
poured  upon  him  from  time  to  time  till  he  died. 
It  was  amazing,  too,  to  see  how  the  warriors 
would  sometimes  bear  these  tortures.  Tied  to  the 
stake,  they  would  chant  their  war-songs,  threaten 
their  captors  with  the  awful  vengeance  of  their 
tribe,  boast  of  how  many  of  their  nation  they  had 
scalped,  and  tell  their  tormentors  how  they  might 


88  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

increase  their  torture.  In  the  midst  of  the  fire 
they  would  stand  unflinching,  and  die  without 
changing  a  muscle.  It  was  their  glory  to  die  in 
this  way  ;  they  felt  that  they  disappointed  their 
enemies  in  their  last  triumph. 

While  Boone  was  with  them,  a  noted  warrioi 
of  one  of  the  western  tribes,  with  which  the  Shaw- 
anese  were  at  war,  was  brought  in  as  a  captive. 
He  was  at  once  condemned,  stripped,  fastened  to 
the  stake,  and  the  fire  kindled.  After  suffering 
without  flinching  for  a  long  time,  he  laughed  at  his 
captors,  and  told  them,  they  did  not  know  how  to 
make  an  enemy  eat  fire.  He  called  for  a  pipe  and 
tobacco.  Excited  by  his  bravery,  they  gave  it  to 
him.  He  sat  down  on  the  burning  coals,  and  com- 
menced smoking  with  the  utmost  composure  ;  not 
a  muscle  of  his  countenance  moved.  Seeing  this, 
one  of  his  captors  sprang  forward  and  cried  out 
that  he  was  a  true  warrior.  Though  he  had  mur- 
dered many  of  their  tribe,  yet  he  should  live,  if 
the  fire  had  not  spoiled  him.  The  fire  had,  how- 
ever, well  nigh  done  its  work.  With  that,  he  de- 
clared that  he  was  too  brave  a  man  to  suffer  any 
longer.  He  seized  a  tomahawk  and  raised  it  over 
the  head  of  the  prisoner  :  still  a  muscle  did  not 
move.  He  did  not  even  change  his  posture. 
The  blow  was  given,  and  the  brave  warrior  fell 
dead. 

While  among  them,  Boone  also  witnessed  the 


DANIEL    BOONE.  89 

mode  in  which  the  Shawanese  make  a  treaty  of 
peace.  The  warriors  of  both  tribes  between  which 
the  treaty  was  to  be  made,  met  together  first,  ate 
and  smoked  in  a  friendly  way,  and  then  pledged 
themselves  in  a  sacred  drink  called  cussena.  The 
Shawanese  then  waved  large  fans,  made  of  eagles' 
tails,  and  danced.  The  other  party,  after  this, 
chose  six  of  their  finest  young  men,  painted  them 
with  white  clay,  and  adorned  their  heads  with 
swans'  feathers  ;  their  leader  was  then  placed  on 
what  was  called  the  "  consecrated  seat."  After 
this  they  all  commenced  dancing,  and  singino- 
their  song  of  peace.  They  danced  first  m  a  bend- 
ing posture  ;  then  stood  upright,  still  dancing,  and 
bearing  in  their  right  hands  their  fans,  while  in 
their  left  they  carried  a  calabash,  tied  to  a  stick 
about  a  foot  long,  and  with  this  continually  beat 
their  breasts.  During  all  this,  some  added  to  the 
noise  by  rattling  pebbles  in  a  gourd.  This  being 
over,  the  peace  was  concluded.  It  was  an  act 
of  great  solemnity,  and  no  warrior  was  considered 
as  well  trained,  who  did  not  know  how  to  join  in 
every  part  of  it. 

Many  other  strange  things  were  seen  by  Boone 
among  these  people,  but  these  are  enough  to  show 
you  that  he  was  among  a  strange  people,  with 
habits  very  unlike  his  own.  It  is  not  wonderful 
thai;  he  sighed  to  escape,  when  he  looked  upon 
their  horrid  tortures.  Independently  of  his  love 
8* 


90  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

for  Boonesborough,  he  did  not  know  but  that  such 
tortures  might  be  his  at  any  moment,  when  they 
became  excited.  Fortunately,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  did  escape,  and  we  will  now  go  on  with  his 
story. 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


91 


CHAPTER    VI. 


HEN  Boone  reached  Boones- 
borough,  the  object  he  most 
loved   was   not  to   be  found. 
His  poor  wife,  wearied  with 
waiting  for  him,  and  naturally 
concluding  that  he  was  lost  to 
her  for  ever,  had  returned  to 
her   friends   on   the   Yadkin. 
The  settlers  had  begged  her  to  re- 
main, and  offered  her  every  kind- 
ness ;  but  her  husband  was  gone  : 
she  was  heart-sick,  and  longed  to 
return  to  her  friends  in  Carolina. 
Disappointed  as  he  was,  however,  he 
had  no  time  to  waste  in  sorrow.     The 
,  Wj     '     Indians  were  approaching,  and  Boones- 
borough  was  well  nigh  defenceless.     Just  before 
his  return,  a  Major  Smith  had  taken  charge  of  the 
post,  and  been  busy  in  strengthening  it,  but  much 
was  still  to  be  done.     Boone's  energies  were  now 
at  work,  and  in  a  little  time  the  station  was  ready 
for  an  attack.    A  white  man  now  came  into  the  set- 


y*  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

tlement  with  news.  He  had  escaped  from  the  In- 
dians.  The  party  from  which  Boone  had  escaped 
had  postponed  their  attack  for  three  weeks,  and 
gone  back  to  strengthen  themselves.  They  felt 
that  Boone  had  reached  home — the  alarm  was 
given,  the  place  fortified — and  that  it  was  idle  to 
attack  it  at  this  time. 

Boone  determined  at  once  to  improve  the  mean 
season.  With  nineteen  men,  he  started  off 
to  surprise  the  Indians  at  Paint  Creek  Town,  a 
small  village  on  the  Scioto.  When  he  came  with- 
in four  miles  of  the  place,  he  met  a  party  of  the 
savages  on  their  way  to  join  the  large  body  march- 
ing against  Boonesborough.  The  fight  instantly 
commenced  :  one  Indian  fell  dead,  several  were 
wounded,  and  the  rest  were  forced  to  retreat ;  their 
horses  and  all  their  baggage  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Boone.  Two  men  were  now  sent  to  reconnoitre 
the  town.  They  found  no  Indians  there  ;  they 
had  all  left.  After  setting  fire  to  the  village,  they 
returned,  and  Boone  immediately  hurried  home- 
ward. 

He  had  scarcely  entered  the  station,  and  closed 
the  gates,  when  an  army  of  four  hundred  and  forty- 
four  Indians,  led  on  by  a  Frenchman  named  Du- 
quesne,  appeared  before  the  settlement.  They 
soon  sent  in  a  flag,  demanding,  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  station  should  in- 
stantly surrender.     A  council  was   immediately 


DANIEL    BOONE.  93 

held  in  the  fort.  With  such  a  force  before  them, 
Smith  was  in  favor  of  meeting  their  proposal ; 
Boone  opposed  it ;  the  settlers  backed  him  in  this 
opposition  ;  and  he  sent  back  for  an  answer  to  the 
Indians  that  the  gates  should  never  be  opened  to 
them.  Presently  another  flag  of  truce  was  sent 
in,  with  a  message  that  they  had  a  letter  for  Colonel 
Boone  from  Governor  Hamilton,  of  Detroit.  Upon 
hearing  this,  it  was  thought  best  that  Boone  and 
Smith  should  go  out  and  meet  them,  and  hear  what 
they  had  to  say. 

Fifty  yards  from  the  fort  they  were  met  by  three 
chiefs,  who  received  them  very  cordially,  and  led 
them  to  the  spot  where  they  were  to  hold  the  par- 
ley. Here  they  were  seated  upon  a  panther's 
skin,  while  the  Indians  held  branches  over  their 
heads  to  protect  them  from  the  sun.  The  chiefs 
then  commenced  talking  in  a  friendly  way,  and 
some  of  their  warriors  now  came  forward,  ground- 
ed their  arms,  and  shook  hands  with  them.  Then 
the  letter  of  General  Hamilton  was  read  ;  he  invi- 
ted them  to  surrender  and  come  at  once  to  Detroit 
■where  they  should  be  treated  with  all  kindness. 
Smith  objected  to  this'  proposal,  declaring  that  it 
was  impossible  for  them,  at  this  time,  to  move 
their  women  and  children ;  but  the  Indians  had 
an  answer  ready :  they  had  brought  forty  hor- 
ses with  them,  they  said,  expressly  to  help  them 
in  removing.     After  a  long  and  friendly  talk,  the 


94  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

white  men  returned  to  the  fort,  for  the  purpose,  as 
they  said,  of  considering  the  proposal.  They 
now  informed  the  settlers  that  the  Indians  had  no 
cannon,  and  advised  them  never  to  think  of  sur- 
rendering. Every  man  thought  the  advice  good. 
The  Indians  now  sent  in  another  flag,  and  ask- 
ed what  treaty  the  whites  v^ere  ready  to  make. 
Boone,  who  had  suspected  treachery  all  the  time, 
at  once  sent  a  reply,  that  if  they  wished  to  make 
a  treaty,  the  place  for  making  it,  must  be  within 
sixty  yards  of  the  fort.  This  displeased  them  at 
first,  but  at  last,  they  consented.  He  then  sta- 
tioned some  of  his  men,  with  their  guns,  in  one 
angle  of  the  fort,  with  orders  to  fire  if  it  became 
necessary,  and,  with  Smith,  started  out  to  meet 
them.  After  a  long  talk  with  thirty  chiefs,  terms 
were  agreed  upon,  and  the  treaty  was  ready  to  be 
signed  ;  the  chiefs  now  said  that  it  was  custom- 
ary with  them,  on  such  occasions,  for  the  Indians 
to  shake  hands  with  every  white  man  who  signed 
the  treaty,  as  a  token  of  the  warmest  friendship. 
Boone  and  Smith  agreed  to  this,  and  the  shaking 
of  hands  commenced  ;  presently,  they  found  them- 
selves seized  in  the  crowd — the  Indians  were 
dragging  them  ofi";  a  fire  from  the  fort  now  lev- 
elled the  savages  who  grasped  them  ;  the  rest 
were  in  confusion,  and,  in  the  confusion,  Boone 
and  Smith  escaped  and  rushed  into  the  fort.  In 
the  struggle  Boone  was  wounded,  though  not  dan- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  95 

gerously.     It  was  a  narrow  escape  for  both  of 
them. 

There  was  no  more  chance  for  deception  now ; 
the  Indians  were  disappointed,  and  the  whites 
were  provoked  at  their  treachery.  A  brisk  firino- 
now  commenced  on  both  sides  ;  Duquesne  ha- 
rangued the  Indians  and  urged  them  on,  while  the 
whites  shouted  from  the  fort,  upbraided  them  as 
treacherous  cowards,  and  defied  them.  The  at- 
tack was  furious,  the  firing  was  kept  up  till  dark, 
and  many  an  Indian  fell  that  day  before  Boones- 
borough.  The  whites,  sheltered  by  their  pickets, 
made  easy  havoc  among  them. 

When  night  came,  the  exasperated  Indians 
crawled  under  the  pickets  and  began  to  throw 
burning  materials  into  the  fort,  hoping  to  set  all 
on  fire  ;  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed — there 
were  ample  supplies  of  water  inside,  and  the  fire 
was  put  out  as  fast  as  it  fell. 

The  next  day  the  firing  was  resumed,  and  day 
after  day  it  continued,  the  Indians  failing  to  make 
any  impression.  They  were  too  far  from  the  fort 
— the  first  day's  work  had  taught  them  not  to 
come  near.  At  last  they  formed  a  wiser  plan  for 
doing  mischief.  Boonesborough,  as  you  will  re- 
member, v/as  only  sixty  yards  from  the  river,  and 
they  determined,  by  the  advice  of  the  Frenchman, 
to  let  the  water  in  and  force  the  settlers  out.  In 
the  night,  they  commenced  the  work  of  digging  a 


96  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

trench  under  ground,  from  the  river.     In  the  morn- 
ing Boone  looked  out  upon  the  river,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  it  was  muddy,  instantly  guessed  the  cause. 
He  immediately  set  his  men  to  the  work  of  cut- 
ting a  trench  inside  the  fort,  to  cross  the  subterra- 
nean passage  of  the  Indians.     The  savages  saw 
what  was  doing,  for  Boone's  men  were  constantly 
shovelling  dirt  over  the  pickets,  but  they  persever- 
ed earnestly  in   their  design.     At  last,  however, 
they  were   forced  to  stop,   for  the  dirt   caved  in 
as  fast   as  they  dug ;  disappointed  in   this,  they 
now  summoned  the  station  once  more  to  a  treaty. 
But  Boone  laughed  at  them.     "  Do  you  suppose," 
said  he,  "  we  would  pretend  to  treat  with  such 
treacherous  wretches  1     Fire  on,  you  only  waste 
your  powder  ;  the  gates  shall  never  be  opened  to 
you  while  there  is  a  man  of  us  living."     Taking 
his  advice,  they  commenced  their  firing  again  ;  at 
last,  on  the  ninth  day  of  the  siege,  wearied  with 
their  fruitless  labor,  they  killed  all  the  cattle  they 
could  find,  raised  a  yell,  and  departed.     This  was 
a  terrible  siege  for  the  Indians  ;  it  is  said  that  they 
lost  tw^o  hundred  men  ;  Boone  counted  thirty-sev- 
en chief  warriors  ;  while  the  whites,  defended  by 
their  pickets,  had  but  two  killed  and  four  wounded. 
You  may  judge,  too,  how  industrious  the   savages 
had  been,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  whites  who 
wanted  lead,  commenced  gathering  their  balls  af- 
ter they  left,  and  succeeded  in  picking  out  of  the 


DANIEL    BOONE.  97 

logs,  and  from  the  ground,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds. 

Boone  having  thus  successfully  defended  his 
settlement,  determined  now  to  go  in  search  of  his 
wife.  Accustomed  to  travelling  through  the  woods, 
he  soon  made  his  lonely  journey  to  the  Yadkin. 
They  were  amazed  as  he  entered  the  house  of 
Mr.  Bryan,  his  wife's  father.  The  appearance  of 
one  risen  from  the  grave  could  not  have  surprised 
them  more  than  that  of  Boone — the  lost  man  was 
among  them,  and  great  was  their  rejoicing.  He 
now  remained  here  with  his  family  for  some  time, 
and  here  we  will  leave  him  for  a  little  while,  to 
talk  of  what  happened  in  Kentucky  during  his 
absence. 

The  Kentuckians,  roused  by  the  Indian  hostil- 
ity and  treachery,  determined  soon  after  he  left  to 
inflict  punishment  upon  them  ;  against  the  Shawa- 
nese  they  were  most  provoked ;  it  was  among  them 
that  most  of  the  plots  against  the  whites  were 
formed,  and  the  attack,  therefore,  was  to  be  made 
upon  them.  An  army  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
men  was  soon  collected,  and  the  command  was 
given  to  a  brave  man  named  Colonel  Bowman ; 
they  were  to  march  directly  against  old  Chilicothe, 
the  den  of  the  savages. 

In  July  of  this  year  (1779),  they  started  and 
reached  the  home  of  the  Indians,  without  being 
discovered.  At  daylight,  the  fight  commenced  and 
9 


98  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

continued  till  ten  o'clock.  Bowman's  men  fought 
bravely,  but  the  Indians  had  every  advantage. 
Knowing  all  the  woods  about  their  settlement, 
while  one  party  fought  openly,  the  other,  conceal 
ed  behind  the  grass  and  trees,  poured  in  a  deadly 
fire  upon  the  whites.  He  was  forced  at  last  to 
retreat  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  a  distance  of  thirty 
miles  ;  but  the  Indians  pursued  him  here,  doing 
more  mischief  than  before.  The  savages  fought 
desperately.  His  men  were  falling  around  him, 
and  but  for  Colonel  Harrod,  every  man  of  them 
might  have  been  killed.  Seeing  the  slaughter 
that  was  continually  increasing,  he  mounted  a 
body  of  horsemen  and  made  a  charge  upon  the 
enemy ;  this  broke  their  ranks,  they  were  thrown 
into  confusion,  and  Bowman,  with  the  remnant  of 
his  men,  was  enabled  to  retreat. 

This  attack  only  exasperated  the  Indians.  In 
the  course  of  the  next  summer  (after  doing  much 
mischief  in  a  smaller  way  in  the  meantime),  they 
gathered  together  to  the  number  of  six  hundred, 
and  led  on  by  Colonel  Bird,  a  British  officer,  came 
down  upon  Riddle's  and  Martin's  stations,  at  the 
forks  of  Licking  river.  They  had  with  them  six 
cannons,  and  managed  their  matters  so  secretly, 
that  the  first  news  of  their  approach  was  given  to 
the  settlers  by  the  roar  of  their  guns.  Of  course 
it  was  of  no  use  to  resist ;  the  pickets  could  not  de- 
fend them  from  cannon-balls :  the   settlers   were 


DANIEL    BOONE.  99 

forced  to  surrender.  The  savages  rushed  into  the 
station  and  instantly  killed  one  man  and  two  wo- 
men with  their  tomahawks  ;  all  the  others,  many  of 
whom  were  sick,  were  now  loaded  with  baggage 
and  forced  to  march  off  with  the  Indians.  It  was 
certain  death  to  any  one,  old  or  young,  male  or  fe- 
male, who  became,  on  the  march,  too  weak  and 
exhausted  to  travel  farther ;  they  were  instantly 
killed  with  the  tomahawk. 

Flushed  with  success,  the  Indians  were  now 
more  troublesome  than  ever;  it  was  impossible 
for  the  whites  to  remain  in  the  country  if  matters 
were  to  go  on  in  this  way.  The  inhabitants  at 
last  threw  themselves  upon  the  protection  of  Col- 
onel Clarke,  who  commanded  a  regiment  of  United 
States  soldiers  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio.  At  the 
head  of  his  men  and  a  large  number  of  volunteers, 
he  marched  against  Pecaway,  one  of  the  principal 
towns  of  the  Shawanese  ;  numbers  of  the  savages 
were  killed,  and  the  town  was  burnt  to  ashes. 
This  was  a  triumph,  but  it  was  a  triumph  gained 
by  the  loss  of  seventeen  of  his  men. 

In  1780,  Boone  again  returned  to  Boonesborough 
with  his  family,  bringing  with  him  also  a  younger 
brother.  The  elder  brother  (who  had  been  in 
Kentucky  before,  as  you  will  remember)  now  re- 
turned also,  and  made  his  home  at  a  spot  not  faV 
from  the  place  where  the  town  of  Shelbyville  now 
stands.      The  settlers  were  all  delighted  to  see 


100  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

their  old  friend  Daniel  Boone  once  more  among 
them  J  they  now  felt  that  their  leader  was  on  the 
ground.  Mrs.  Boone  too  felt  happy.  Though  she 
was  again  on  "  the  dark  and  bloody  ground,''  her 
husband  was  with  her. 

In  a  little  time  his  services  were  again  especial- 
ly needed.  The  want  of  salt,  their  old  trouble 
was  upon  them,  and  they  looked  to  Boone  to  pro- 
cure it.  Ever  ready,  he  started  off  with  his  young- 
er brother  to  the  Blue  Licks,  the  place  of  his  for- 
mer trouble  ;  here  he  was  destined  to  meet  with 
trouble  again.  They  had  made  as  much  salt  as 
they  could  carry,  and  were  now  returning  to 
Boonesborough  with  their  packs,  when  they  were 
suddenly  overtaken  by  a  party  of  savages  ;  the 
Indians  immediately  fired,  and  Boone's  brother  fell 
dead.  Daniel  Boone  turned,  levelled  his  rifle  at 
the  foremost  Indian,  and  brought  him  down  ;  with 
a  loud  yell  the  party  now  rushed  toward  him.  He 
snatched  his  brother's  rifle,  levelled  another,  and 
then  ran.  The  Indians  gave  chase,  but  he  managed 
to  keep  ahead,  and  even  found  time  to  reload  his 
rifle.  He  knew  that  his  only  chance  for  escape 
was  to  distance  them,  and  break  his  trail.  He 
passed  the  brow  of  a  hill,  jumped  into  a  brook 
below,  waded  in  it  for  some  distance,  and  then 
struck  off  at  right  angles  from  his  old  course. 
Upon  looking  back  he  found,  to  his  sorrow,  that 
he  had  not  succeeded — the  Indians  were  still  on 


DANIEL    BOONE.  101 

his  track.  Presently,  he  came  to  a  grape-vine,  and 
tried  his  old  experiment  at  breaking  the  trail.  This 
was  to  no  purpose,  he  found  the  savages  still  fol- 
lowing him.  After  travelling  some  distance  farther, 
upon  looking  round  he  saw  the  cause  of  his 
trouble  ;  the  Indians  had  a  dog  with  them,  and  this 
dog,  scenting  his  track,  kept  them  for  ever  on  his 
course.  His  rifle  was  loaded— the  dog  was  far 
ahead  of  the  party— and  Boone  sent  a  rifle  ball 
through  him.  He  now  pushed  on,  doubling  his 
course  from  time  to  time  ;  the  Indians  lost  track 
of  him,  and  he  reached  Boonesborough  in  safety. 

In  spite  of  the  continued  annoyance  of  the  Indians, 
the  white  settlements  had  continued  to  grow,  and 
there  were  now  so  many  white  men  in  the  coun- 
try, that  in  the  fall  of  this  year  (1780),  Kentucky 
was  divided  into  the  three  counties  of  Jefferson, 
Fayette,  and  Lincoln.  Our  friend,  Daniel  Boone, 
was  appointed  to  command  the  mihtia  in  his  coun- 
ty, and  William  Pope,  and  Benjamin  Logan,  two 
brave  men,  were  to  have  the  command   in  theirs. 

The  winter  of  this  year  soon  set  in,  and  it  proved 
a  hard  one.  The  settlers,  however,  bore  it  cheer- 
fully, for  they  were  accustomed  to  hardships. 
Hard  as  it  was,  too,  it  proved  mild  to  the  next  that 
followed.  The  winter  of  1781  was  long  remem- 
bered as  "  the  cold  winter"  in  Kentucky.  To  make 
it  harder,  the  Indians,  after  doing  much  mischief 
through  the  summer,  had  destroyed  most  of  the 
9* 


102  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

crops  the  preceding  fall,  and  the  settlors  had  small 
supplies  of  food.  But  the  forest  was  around  them  ; 
Boone  and  Harrod  were  among  them,  and  these 
two  men  found  food  enough.  Every  day  they  went 
out  in  the  winters  storms — every  night  they  came 
in  laden  with  deer  and  buffaloes.  The  people 
learned  to  live  on  nothing  but  meat.  Boone  and 
Harrod  drove  away  all  thoughts  of  starvation. 
They  had,  however,  this  one  comfort  :  the  cold 
weather  kept  the  Indians  at  home.  They  had  no 
disturbances  throughout  the  winter  from  them. 

When  spring  opened,  however,  the  savages 
showed  themselves  more  furious,  if  possible,  than 
ever.  Their  plans  of  mischief  were  better  laid  ; 
they  seemed  to  have  been  feeding  their  revenge 
fat.  Open  and  secret  war  was  all  around  the  set- 
tlers. It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  attempt  to  give 
details  of  the  doings  of  the  savages.  Ashton's, 
Hoy's,  M'Afee's,  Kincheloe's,  and  Boone's  sta- 
tion, near  Shelbyville,  were  all  attacked.  Men 
were  shot  down  in  the  open  fields,  or  waylaid  in 
every  pathway.  The  early  annals  of  Kentucky 
are  filled  with  stories  of  many  a  brave  white  man 
at  this  time.  There  were  Ashton,  Holden,  Lyn, 
Tipton,  Chapman,  White,  Boone,  Floyd,  Wells, 
the  M'Afees,  M'Gary,  Randolph,  Reynolds,  and 
others,  some  of  whom  were  killed,  and  all  of  whom 
had  their  hard  struggles.  The  history  of  that 
spring  is  only  a  story  of  burnings,  captures,  and 


DANIEL    BOONE.  103 

murders,  on  the  part  of  the  savages.  It  was  a 
dark  period  for  the  white  men  ;  even  Boone,  with 
all  his  vigor  and  fearlessness,  thought  it  the  dark- 
est period  he  had  known  in  that  region.  The 
savages  seemed  bent  upon  a  war  of  extermination. 

Not  satisfied  with  such  mischief  as  they  had  al- 
ready done,  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  the 
savages  held  a  grand  council  at  Old  Chilicothe,  to 
arrange  their  plans  for  further  destruction.  There 
were  chiefs  there  from  the  Cherokees,  Wyandots, 
Tavvas,  Pottawattomies,  and  most  of  the  tribes  bor- 
dering on  the  lakes.  Two  notorious  white  villains 
— whose  names  will  never  be  forgotten  in  Ken- 
tucky— were  there  also,  to  aid  them  with  their 
counsels.  These  were  Girty  and  M'Kee,  infamous 
men,  who  lived  among  the  Indians,  and  lived  only 
by  murdering  their  own  countrymen.  Their  plan 
was  soon  settled.  Bryant's  station,  near  Lexing- 
ton, was  known  to  be  a  strong  post,  and  this  was 
to  be  attacked.  This  station  had  within  it  forty 
cabins,  and  here  it  was  thought  they  might  make 
the  greatest  slaughter.  The  warriors  were  to 
gather  as  rapidly  as  possible  for  the  enterprise. 

In  a  little  time,  five  hundred  of  them  rallied  at 
Girty's  cabin,  ready  for  their  departure.  The 
white  rascal  then  made  a  speech  to  them.  He 
told  them  that  "  Kentucky  was  a  beautiful  hunting- 
ground,  filled  with  deer  and  bufTaloes,  for  their 
comfort ;  the  white  men  had  come  to  drive  thera 


104  THE    ADVEXTURES    OF 

away ;  the  ground  was  now  red  with  the  blood  of 
the  red  men  that  had  been  slain.  But  vengeance 
they  would  have^ — now,  before  the  whites  were 
yet  fastened  in  the  country,  they  would  strike  a 
blow,  and  drive  them  ofT  for  ever."  Then  he  talked 
of  the  plan  before  them.  He  advised  them  to  de- 
scend the  Miami  in  their  canoes,  cross  the  Ohio, 
ascend  the  Licking,  and  then  they  might  paddle 
their  boats  almost  to  the  station.  His  speech  was 
answered  by  a  loud  yell  from  the  Indians,  and 
they  all  started  off  for  their  boats — Simon  Girty, 
with  his  ruffled  shirt  and  soldier  coat,  marching  at 
their  head. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  August,  they  arrived 
before  the  station.  In  the  morning,  as  the  gates 
were  opened,  the  men  were  fired  at  by  the  sav- 
ages, and  this  was  the  first  news  to  the  whites  of 
the  approach  of  the  enemy.  It  was  fortunate  that 
they  had  shown  themselves  thus  early  :  in  two 
hours  more,  most  of  the  men  were  to  have  started 
off  to  aid  a  distant  feeble  station.  As  soon  as  the 
whites  found  they  were  besieged,  they  managed  to 
send  off  the  news  to  Lexington. 

The  Indians  now,  as  usual,  commenced  their 
stratagems.  The  large  body  concealed  themselves 
in  the  grass  near  the  pathway  to  the  spring,  while 
one  hundred  went  round  and  attacked  the  southeast 
angle  of  the  station.  Their  hope  was  to  draw  the 
whites  all  to  that  quarter,  while  they  forced  an  en- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  105 

trance  on  the  other  side.  But  the  white  men  under- 
stood this  sort  of  cunning ;  they  had  lived  among  the 
Indians  toolongto  be  caught  by  such  tricks  :  instead 
of  noticing  the  attack,  they  went  on  quietly  with  the 
work  of  repairing  and  strengthening  their  pali- 
sades. 

But  water,  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  was 
soon  wanting.  The  whites,  as  they  looked  at  the 
tall  grass  and  weeds  near  the  spring,  felt  that  In- 
dians were  lurking  there.  The  women  now  came 
forward  and  insisted  upon  it  that  they  would  go 
and  bring  water.  "  What  if  they  do  shoot  us  ?" 
they  said ;  "  it  is  better  to  lose  a  woman  than  a 
man  at  such  a  time."  With  that,  they  started 
out,  and,  strange  to  tell,  went  back  and  forth, 
bringing  supplies  of  water,  without  any  difficulty. 
Some  of  the  young  men  now  went  out  upon  the 
same  purpose.  They  had  scarcely  left  the  sta- 
tion, when  they  were  fired  upon.  Fortunately,  the 
Indians  were  too  far  to  do  any  mischief ;  the  men 
retreated  rapidly  within  the  palisades.  The  In- 
dians, finding  their  stratagem  fruitless,  now  rushed 
forward,  and  commenced  a  tremendous  attack. 
The  whites  received  them  with  a  steady  fire,  and 
many  of  them  fell.  Enraged  the  more,  they  now 
discharged  their  burning  arrows  into  the  roofs  of 
the  houses  ;  some  of  the  cabins  were  burnt,  but  an 
east  wind  was  blowing  at  the  time,  and  that  saved 
the  station. 


106  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

The  enemy  now  fell  back  into  the  grass.  They 
had  found  out,  in  some  way,  that  help  was  expect- 
ed from  Lexington,  and  they  were  preparing  to 
cut  it  off.  In  a  little  time,  all  was  still.  Present- 
ly sixteen  horsemen,  followed  by  thirty-one  foot- 
soldiers,  were  seen  coming ;  these  were  the  men 
from  Lexington.  Thinking  only  of  the  distress 
of  their  friends,  they  were  hurrying  along,  when 
the  Indians  opened  a  fire  upon  them.  The  horse- 
men galloped  off  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  and  reached 
the  station  in  safety.  The  soldiers  on  foot,  in 
their  eflbrt  to  escape,  plunged  into  the  cornfields 
on  either  side  of  the  road,  only  to  meet  the  ene- 
my. A  desperate  fight  commenced  on  both  sides  : 
two  soldiers  were  killed  ;  the  rest — four  of  them 
having  dangerous  wounds — reached  the  pickets. 
The  exasperated  Indians,  disappointed  at  the  es- 
cape of  this  party,  now  wreaked  their  vengeance 
by  killing  all  the  cattle  they  could  find. 

Finding  all  their  efforts  to  enter  the  station  idle, 
Simon  Girty  now  came  near  enough  to  be  heard, 
mounted  a  stump,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  flag 
of  truce,  began  to  talk.  "  Surrender  promptly," 
cried  Simon ;  "  if  you  surrender  promptly,  no 
blood  shall  be  shed  ;  but  if  you  will  not  surren- 
der, then  know  that  our  cannons  and  reinforce- 
ments are  coming.  We  will  batter  down  your 
pickets  as  we  did  at  Riddle's  and  Martin's  ;  every 
man  of  you  shall  be  slain  ;  two  are  dead  already — 


DAXIEL    BOONE.  107 

four  are  wounded  ;  every  man  shall  die."  This 
language  was  so  insolent,  that  some  of  the  settlers 
cried  out,  "  Shoot  the  rascal !"  No  man,  however, 
lifted  his  ritle  ;  the  flag  of  truce  protected  him. 
"  I  am  under  a  flag  of  truce,"  cried  Simon ;  "  do 
you  know  who  it  is  that  speaks  to  you  ?" 

Upon  this,  a  young  man  named  Reynolds  leaped 
up  and  cried  out,  "  Know  you  !  know  you  1  yes, 
we  know  you  well.  Know  Simon  Girty  !  yes  :  he 
is  the  renegado,  cowardly  villain,  who  loves  to  mur- 
der women  and  children,  especially  those  of  his 
own  people.  Know  Simon  Girty  !  yes  :  his  fa- 
ther must  have  been  a  panther,  and  his  mother  a 
w^olf.  I  have  a  v/orthless  dog  that  kills  lambs  : 
instead  of  shooting  him,  T  have  named  him  Simon 
Girty.  You  expect  reinforcements  and  cannon, 
do  you  ?  Cowardly  wretches  like  you,  that  make 
w^ar  upon  women  and  children,  would  not  dare  to 
touch  them  off",  if  you  had  them.  We  expect  re- 
inforcements, too,  and  in  numbers  to  give  a  short 
account  of  the  murdering  cowards  that  follow  you. 
Even  if  you  could  batter  down  our  pickets,  I,  for 
one,  hold  your  people  in  too  much  contempt  to 
shoot  rifles  at  them.  I  would  not  waste  powder 
and  ball  upon  you.  Should  you  even  enter  our 
fort,  I  am  ready  for  you ;  I  have  roasted  a  number 
of  hickory  switches,  with  which  we  mean  to  whip 
you  and  your  naked  cut-throats  out  of  the  coun- 
try !" 


108  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Simon  was  now  furious  ;  cursing  and  swearing, 
he  went  back  to  his  friends,  amid  the  loud  laughs 
and  jeers  of  the  whites.  In  a  little  time,  the  firing 
was  renewed  ;  it  was  all  to  no  purpose  :  no  white 
man  suffered,  and  every  Indian  who  came  within 
gun-shot  of  the  fort  was  sure  to  fall.  In  the  course 
of  the  night  the  whole  party  sneaked  off,  and  their 
tracks  indicated  that  they  had  started  for  the  Blue 
Licks.  They  left  behind  them  thirty  of  their 
number  slain. 


DANIEL    BOONE 


J  09 


CHAPTER    VII. 


OLONEL  TODD,of  Lexing. 
ton,  instantly  despatched  news 
of  this  attack  on  Bryant's  sta- 
tion, to  Colonel  Boone,  at 
Boonesborough,  and  Colonel 
Trigg,  near  Harrodsburgh.  In 
a  little  time,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  men  were  collect- 
ed under  these  three  officers,  to 
march  in  pursuit.  Majors  M'Gary 
and  Harland  now  joined  them,  de- 
termined that  they  would  have  a 
part  in  the  punishment  of  the  sav- 
ages. It  was  known,  too,  that  Colonel 
Logan  was  collecting  a  force,  and  a 
council  of  officers  was  at  once  held,  to 
determine  whether  they  should  march  on,  or  wait 
for  him.  They  were  all  so  eager  to  be  off,  that 
It  was  thought  bpst  to  march  immediately.  The 
march  was  therefore  commenced  forthwith. 
10 


110  THE    ADVEXrURES    OF 

Following  on  in  the  trail  of  the  Indians,  they 
had  not  gone  far,  when  Boone  saw  enough  to  con- 
vince him  that  the  Indians  would  not  only  be  wil- 
ling, but  glad  to  meet  them.  No  effort  had  been 
made  to  conceal  their  trail  ;  the  trees  were  even 
marked  on  their  pathway,  that  the  whites  might 
follow  on  ;  and  they  had  tried  to  conceal  their 
numbers,  by  treading  in  each  other's  footsteps. 
He  called  the  attention  of  his  companions  to  this,, 
but  still  they  proceeded  onward. 

They  saw  no  Indians  until  they  came  to  the 
Licking  river,  not  far  from  the  Blue  Licks.  A 
party  was  now  seen  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream, 
leisurely  crossing  a  hill.  A  council  was  at  once 
held,  and  the  officers  all  turned  to  Boone  for  ad- 
vice. His  advice  was  given  frankly  :  he  was  for 
waiting  till  Logan  should  arrive  with  his  men. 
The  Indian  party,  he  felt  assured,  was  at  the  least 
from  four  to  five  hundred  strong,  and  the  uncon- 
cerned mode  in  which  the  Indians  crossed  the 
hill  showed  that  the  main  body  was  near,  and  their 
design  was  to  draw  them  over  the  river.  More- 
over, he  was  acquainted  with  all  that  region  of  the 
country.  After  they  crossed  the  ford,  they  would 
come  upon  deep  ravines  not  far  from  the  bank, 
where,  no  doubt,  the  Indians  were  in  ainbush.  If, 
however,  they  were  determined  not  to  wait  for 
Logan,  he  advised  that  the  country  might  at  least 
be  reconnoitred  before  the  attack  was  made.     A 


DANIEL    BOONE.  Ill 

part  of  the  men,  he  thought,  might  cross  the  stream, 
and  move  up  cautiously  on  the  other  side,  while 
the  remainder  would  stand  where  they  were, 
ready  to  assist  them  at  the  first  alarm.  Todd  and 
Trigg  thought  the  advice  good,  and  were  disposed 
to  heed  it ;  but,  just  at  this  moment,  Major  M'Gary, 
more  hot-headed  than  wise,  spurred  his  horse  into 
the  water,  gave  the  Kentucky  war-whoop,  and  cried 
out,  "All  those  that  are  not  cowards  will  follow 
me  ;  I  will  show  them  where  the  Indians  are." 
The  men  were  roused  by  this  show  of  bravery, 
and  they  all  crossed  the  ford. 

The  banks  were  steep  on  the  other  side,  and 
many  of  them  now  dismounted,  tied  their  horses, 
and  commenced  marching  on  foot.  M'Gary  and 
Harland  led  the  way.  They  had  not  proceeded 
far  when  they  came  to  one  of  the  ravines.  It  was 
just  as  Boone  had  supposed  ;  the  savages  were  in 
ambush.  A  deadly  fire  was  now  poured  in  upon 
the  whites ;  the  men  staggered  and  fell  in  every 
direction.  The  fire  was  returned,  but  to  little  pur- 
pose, for  the  enemy  was  completely  concealed ;  a 
retreat  was  all  that  was  left.  The  whites  hurried 
back  toward  the  river  ;  the  Indians  pursued  ;  and 
now  commenced  the  slaughter  with  the  tomahawk. 
The  ford  was  narrow,  and  multitudes  were  slaugh- 
tered there.  Some  were  trying  to  get  to  their 
horses ;  others,  more  fortunate,  were  mounted  and 
flying ;  and  some  were  plunging  into  the  stream. 


112  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  confusion,  the  Indians  were 
doing  their  work  of  destruction. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Netherland  (who  had 
been  laughed  at  for  his  cowardice)  had  never  dis- 
mounted his  horse,  and  was  the  first  to  reach  the  op- 
posite shore.  In  a  little  time,  some  of  his  comrades 
were  around  him.  He  now  turned,  and,  looking 
back,  saw  the  massacre  that  was  going  on.  This 
was  more  than  he  could  bear.  "  Halt !  fire  on  the 
Indians,"  cried  he  ;  "  protect  the  men  in  the  river." 
With  this,  the  men  wheeled,  fired,  and  rescued 
several  poor  fellows  in  the  stream,  over  whom  the 
tomahawk  was  lifted. 

Reynolds,  the  man  who  answered  Girty's  inso- 
lence, made  a .  narrow  escape.  Finding,  in  the 
retreat,  one  of  the  officers  wounded,  he  gave  him 
his  horse,  and  was  soon  after  taken  by  three  In- 
dians. They  were  now  over  him,  ready  to  de- 
spatch him,  when  two  retreating  white  men  rushed 
by.  Two  of  the  savages  started  in  pursuit ;  the 
third  stooped  for  an  instant  to  tie  his  moccasin, 
when  Reynolds  sprang  away  from  him  and  es- 
caped. 

This  was  a  terrible  battle  for  the  white  men. 
More  than  sixty  of  their  number  were  slain,  and 
among  them  were  most  of  their  officers  :  Colonels 
Todd  and  Trigg,  Majors  Harland  and  Bulger,  Cap- 
tains Gordon  and  M'Bride,  and  a  son  of  Colonel 
Boone,  were  all  among  the  dead. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  113 

Those  who  had  regained  the  other  shore,  not 
having  strength  to  rally,  started  homeward  in  great 
sadness.  On  their  way  they  met  Colonel  Logan. 
He  had  gone  to  Bryant's  station  with  his  five  hun- 
dred men,  and  was  greatly  disappointed  when  he 
found  they  had  all  started  without  him  ;  he  pushed 
on,  however,  as  rapidly  as  he  could,  hoping  to 
overtake  them  before  they  made  their  attack  on 
the  savages.  The  sad  story  of  the  defeat  was  soon 
told.  All  that  remained  to  be  done  now  was  to  go 
back,  and,  if  possible,  bury  the  dead.  Upon  this 
sad  business  Logan  continued  his  march.  Upon 
reaching  the  ground,  the  spectacle  was  awful :  the 
dead  bodies  were  strewn  over  it  just  as  they  had 
fallen,  the  heat  was  intense,  and  birds  of  prey 
were  feeding  upon  the  carcasses.  The  bodies 
were  so  mangled  and  changed,  that  no  man  could 
be  distinguished  ;  friends  could  not  recognise  their 
nearest  relatives.  The  dead  were  buried  as  rap- 
idly as  possible,  and  Logan  left  the  scene  in  great 
sorrow. 

Nor  was  this  all  the  carnage.  The  Indians,  af- 
ter the  defeat,  had  scattered,  and  it  was  soon  found 
that  on  their  way  homeward  they  had  swept 
through  several  settlements,  carrying  destruction 
before  them.  Emboldened  by  their  triumph,  no 
man  could  tell  what  they  might  next  attempt. 

It  was  no  time  for  the  whites  to  be  idle.     They 
soon  rallied  in  large  numbers  at  Fort  Washington, 
10* 


114  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  General 
Clarke  was  at  once  made  commander-in-chief,  and 
Colonel  Logan  was  placed  next  under  him  in  com- 
mand. Clarke  immediately  started  with  a  thou- 
sand men  to  attack  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Miami. 
On  his  way  he  came  upon  the  cabin  of  Simon 
Girty  ;  it  was  fortunate  for  Simon  that  a  straggling 
Indian  spied  Clarke's  men  coming,  in  time  to  let 
him  escape.  The  news  was  now  spread  every- 
where that  an  army  of  white  men  was  coming 
from  Kentucky.  The  consequence  was,  that  as 
Clarke  approached  the  towns,  he  found  them  all 
deserted  ;  the  Indians  had  fled  to  the  woods.  His 
march,  however,  was  not  made  for  nothing.  The 
towns  of  Old  and  New  Chilicothe,  Pecaway,  and 
Wills'  Town,  were  all  reduced  to  ashes.  One 
old  Indian  warrior  was  surprised,  and  surrendered 
himself  a  prisoner.  This  man,  to  the  great  sor- 
row of  General  Clarke,  was  afterward  murdered 
by  one  of  the  soldiers. 

Notwithstanding  this  punishment,  Indian  mas- 
sacres still  went  on.  Stories  of  savage  butchery 
were  heard  of  everywhere  ;  every  station  that  they 
dared  approach  felt  their  fury,  and  the  poor  settler 
who  had  built  his  cabin  away  from  any  station  was 
sure  to  be  visited. 

General  Clarke  started  out  again,  against  the  In- 
dians on  the  Wabash.  Unfortunately,  his  expedi- 
tion failed  this  time,  for  the  want  of  provisions  for 


DANIEL    BOONE.  115 

his  men.  Another  expedition  of  Colonel  Logan, 
against  the  Shawanese  Indians,  was  more  success- 
ful. He  surprised  one  of  their  towns,  killed  many 
of  their  warriors,  and  took  many  prisoners. 

The  war  had  now  become  so  serious,  that  in 
the  fall  of  1785  the  General  Government  invited 
all  the  lake  and  Ohio  tribes  of  Indians  to  meet  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami.  It  was  hoped  that 
in  this  way  matters  might  be  settled  peaceably. 
But  many  of  the  tribes  were  insolent  and  ill-na- 
tured ;  they  refused  to  come  in,  giving  as  an  ex- 
cuse that  the  Kentuckians  were  for  ever  molesting 
them.  Emboldened  by  the  very  invitation,  they 
continued  the  warfare  more  vigorou  ly  than  ever. 
They  not  only  assaulted  the  settlements  already 
made,  but  made  an  attempt  to  guard  the  Ohio  river, 
to  prevent  any  further  settlers  from  reaching  the 
country  in  that  direction.  Small  parties  placed 
themselves  at  different  points  on  the  river,  from 
Pittsburgh  to  Louisville,  where  they  laid  in  am- 
bush and  fired  upon  every  boat  that  passed.  Some- 
times they  would  make  false  signals,  decoy  the 
boat  ashore,  and  murder  the  whole  crew.  They 
e .  an  went  so  far  at  last  as  to  arm  and  man  the 
boats  they  had  taken,  and  cruise  up  and  down  the 
river. 

I  must  tell  you  of  a  very  bold  defence  made  on 
the  Ohio  about  this  time  by  a  Captain  Hubbel,  who 
w^s  br'no-inff  ^  par*y  of  emiscrint.*?  from  Vermont* 


116  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

His  party  was  in  two  boats,  and  consisted  in  all 
of  twenty.  As  Hubbel  came  down  the  river,  he 
fell  in  with  other  boats,  was  told  of  the  Indian 
stratagems,  and  advised  to  be  careful.  Indeed, 
the  inmates  of  some  of  the  boats  begged  that  he 
W(mld  continue  in  their  company,  and  thus  they 
would  be  able  to  meet  the  Indians  better  if  they 
should  be  attacked  ;  the  stronger  the  party,  the 
better,  in  such  a  condition.  But  Hubbel  refused 
to  do  this,  and  proceeded  onward.  He  had  not 
gone  far,  when  a  man  on  the  shore  began  to  make 
signs  of  distress,  and  begged  that  the  boat  might 
come  and  take  him  off.  Hubbel  knew  well  enough 
that  this  was  an  Indian  disguised  as  a  white  man, 
and  therefore  took  no  notice  of  him.  In  a  little 
time,  a  party  of  savages  pushed  off  in  their  boats, 
and  attacked  him  fiercely.  The  fight  was  hot  on 
both  sides.  The  savages  tried  to  board  Hubbel's 
boat,  but  the  fire  was  too  hot  for  this.  Hubbel  re- 
ceived two  severe  wounds,  and  had  the  lock  of  his 
gun  shot  off  by  an  Indian  ;  still  he  fought,  touch- 
ing ofT  his  broken  gun  from  time  to  time  with  a 
firebrand.  The  Indians  found  the  struggle  too 
hard,  and  were  glad  to  paddle  off.  Presently  they 
returned,  and  attacked  the  other  boat ;  this  they 
seized  almost  without  an  effort,  killed  the  captain 
and  a  boy,  and  took  all  the  women  as  prisoners  to 
their  own  boats.  Now  they  came  once  more 
against  Hubbel,  and  cunningly  placed  the  women 


DANIEL    BOONE.  117 

on  the  sides  of  their  boats  as  a  sort  of  bulwark. 
But  this  (lid  not  stop  Hubbel :  he  saw  that  his  balls 
must  strike  the  women  ;  but  it  was  better  that  they 
should  be  killed  now,  rather  than  suffer  a  death  of 
torture  from  the  savages,  and  the  fire  was  at  once 
opened  upon  them  again.  They  were  soon  driven 
off  once  more.  In  the  course  of  the  action,  how- 
ever, Hubbel's  boat  drifted  near  the  shore,  and  five 
hundred  savages  renewed  the  fire  upon  them.  One 
of  the  emigrants,  more  imprudent  than  the  rest, 
seeing  a  fine  chance  for  a  shot,  raised  his  head  to 
take  aim,  and  was  instantly  killed  by  a  ball.  The 
boat  drifted  along,  and  at  length  reached  deep  wa- 
ter again.  It  was  then  found,  that  of  the  nine  men 
on  board,  two  only  had  escaped  unhurt ;  two  were 
killed,  and  two  mortally  wounded.  A  remarkable 
lad  on  board  showed  great  courage.  He  now  asked 
his  friends  to  extract  a  ball  that  had  lodged  in  the 
skin  of  his  forehead  ;  and  when  this  was  done,  he 
begged  that  they  would  take  out  a  piece  of  bone 
that  had  been  fractured  in  his  elbow  by  another 
ball.  His  poor  frightened  mother,  seeing  his  suf- 
fering, asked  him  why  he  had  not  complained  be- 
fore ;  to  which  the  little  fellow  replied  that  he  had 
been  too  busy,  and,  besides  that,  the  captain  had 
told  them  all  to  make  no  noise. 

It  was  idle  to  attempt  now  to  settle  matters 
peaceably.  The  general  government  had  tried 
that  and  the  plan  had  failed.     The  war  was  now 


118  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

to  be  carried  on  to  a  close,  come  what  might.  An 
expedition  was  accordingly  planned,  against  all  the 
tribes  northwest  of  the  Ohio.  The  Indians  were 
to  be  brought  out,  if  possible  to  a  general  tight ;  or, 
if  that  could  not  be  done,  all  their  towns  and  cab- 
ins on  the  Scioto  and  Wabash,  were  to  be  destroy- 
ed. General  Harmar  was  appointed  commander 
of  the  main  expedition,  and  iMajor  Hamtranck  was 
to  aid  him  with  a  smaller  party. 

In  the  fall  of  1791,  Harmar  started  from 
Fort  Washington  with  three  hundred  and  twenty 
men.  In  a  little  time  he  was  joined  by  the  Ken- 
tucky and  Pennsylvania  militia,  so  that  his  whole 
force  now  amounted  to  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  men.  Colonel  Hardin,  who  commanded  the 
Kentucky  militia,  was  now  sent  ahead  with  six 
hundred  men,  principally  militia,  to  reconnoitre  the 
country.  Upon  reaching  the  Indian  settlements, 
the  savages  set  fire  to  their  houses  and  fled  ;  to 
overtake  them,  he  pushed  on  with  two  hundred 
of  his  men.  A  party  of  Indians  met  and  attacked 
them.  The  cowardly  militia  ran  off,  leaving  their 
brave  companions  to  be  slaughtered.  It  was  a 
brave  struggle,  but  almost  all  were  cut  down  ;  only 
seven  managed  to  escape  and  join  the  main  army. 

Harmar  felt  deeply  mortified!  He  commenced 
forthwith  his  return  to  Fort  Washington,  but  deter 
mined  that,  on  the  way,  he  would  wipe  ofT  this 
disgrace  from  his  army.     Upon  coming  near  Chili- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  119 

cothe  he  accordingly  halted,  and  in  the  night  des- 
patched Colonel  Hardin  once  more  ahead,  with 
orders  to  find  the  enemy  and  draw  them  into  an 
engagement.  About  daybreak  Hardin  came  upon 
them,  and  the  battle  commenced.  It  was  a  des- 
perate fight  on  both  sides.  Some  of  tlj^  militia 
acted  badly  again,  but  the  officers  behaved  nobly. 
The  victory  was  claimed  on  both  sides,  but  I  think 
the  Indians  had  the  best  of  it.  Three  gallant  offi- 
cers,Fontaine, Willys,  and  Frothingham,were  slain, 
together  with  fifty  regulars  and  one  hundred  militia. 

Harmar  now  moved  on  to  Fort  Washington.  So 
much  was  said  about  his  miserable  campaign,that  he 
requested  that  he  might  be  tried  by  a  court-martial. 
Accordingly  he  was  tried  and  honorably  acquitted. 

A  new  army  was  soon  raised,  and  the  command 
was  now  given  to  Major-General  Arthur  St.  Clair. 
His  plan  was  to  destroy  the  Indian  settlements 
between  the  Miamies,  drive  the  savages  from  that 
region,  and  establish  a  chain  of  military  posts 
there,  which  should  for  ever  keep  them  out  of  the 
country.  All  having  rallied  at  Fort  Washington, 
he  started  off  in  the  direction  of  the  Miami  towns. 
It  was  a  hard  march,  for  he  was  forced  to  cut  his 
roads  as  he  passed  along.  Upon  arriving  near  the 
Indian  country,  he  built  forts  Hamilton  and  Jef- 
ferson and  garrisoned  them.  This  left  him  nearly 
two  thousand  men  to  proceed  with.  In  a  little 
time  some  of  the  worthless  militia  deserted.    This 


120  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

was  a  bad  example  to  the  rest,  and  St.  Clair  in 
stantly  sent  Major  Hamtranck,  with  a  regiment,  in 
pursuh  of  them,  while  he  continued  his  march. 
When  he  arrived  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  Mia- 
mi villages  he  halted  and  encamped  ;  he  was  soon 
after  joiped  by  Major  Hamtranck,  and  St.  Clair 
proposed  now  immediately  to  march  against  the 
enemy. 

But  the  enemy  had  already  got  news  of  them, 
aud  had  made  ready.  They  were  determined  to 
have  the  first  blow  themselves.  At  daybreak  the 
next  morning,  the  savages  attacked  the  militia  and 
drove  them  back  in  confusion.  These  broke 
through  the  regiilars,  forcing  their  way  into  the 
camp,  the  Indians  pressing  hard  on  their  heels. 
The  officers  tried  to  restore  order,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose :  the  fight  now  became  general.  This,  how- 
ever, was  only  a  small  part  of  the  Indian  force — 
there  were  four  thousand  of  the  party;  they  had 
nearly  surrounded  the  camp,  and  sheltered  by  the 
trees  and  grass  as  usual,  were  pouring  in  a  deadly 
fire  upon  the  whites.  St.  Clair  and  all  his  officers 
behaved  with  great  courage.  Finding  his  men 
falling  fast  around  him,  he  ordered  a  charge  to  be 
made  with  the  bayonet.  The  men  swept  through 
the  long  grass  driving  the  Indians  before  them. 
The  charge  had  no  sooner  ceased  than  the  In- 
dians returned.  Some  forced  their  way  into  the 
camp,  killed  the  artillerists,  wounded  Colonel  But- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  121 

ler,  and  seized  the  cannon.  Wounded  as  he  was, 
Butler  drove  them  back  and  recovered  the  guns. 
Fired  with  new  ardor,  they  returned  again,  once 
more  entered  the  camp — once  more  had  posses- 
sion of  the  cannon.  All  was  now  confusion  among 
the  whites — it  was  impossible  to  restore  order — 
the  Indians  brought  them  down  in  masses — 
a  retreat  was  all  that  remained.  But  they  were 
so  hemmed  in,  that  this  seemed  impossible.  Col- 
onel Darke  was  ordered  to  charge  the  savages  be- 
hind them,  while  Major  Clarke  with  his  battalion 
was  commanded  to  cover  the  rear  of  the  army. 
These  orders  were  instantly  obeyed,  and  the  dis- 
orderly retreat  commenced.  The  Indians  pursued 
them  four  miles,  keeping  up  a  running  fight.  At 
last  their  chief,  a  Mississago,  who  had  been  train- 
ed to  war  by  the  British,  cried  out  to  them  to  stop 
as  they  had  killed  enough.  They  then  returned 
to  plunder  the  camp  and  divide  the  spoils,  while 
the  routed  troops  continued  their  flight  to  Fort  Jef- 
ferson, throwing  away  their  arms  on  the  roadside 
that  they  might  run  faster.  The  Indians  found  in 
the  camp  seven  pieces  of  cannon,  two  hundred 
oxen,  and  several  horses,  and  had  a  great  rejoi- 
cing. Well  might  the  Mississago  chief  tell  his 
people  they  had  killed  enough  :  thirty-eight  com- 
missioned ofhcers  were  slain,  and  five  hundred 
and  ninety-three  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates.  Besides  this,  twenty-one  officers  and 
11 


122  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

two  hundred   and  forty-two   men  were  wounded, 
some  of  whom  soon  died  of  their  wounds. 

This  was  a  most  disastrous  battle  for  the  whites, 
the  most  disastrous  they  had  yet  known.  The 
triumphant  Indians  were  so  delighted  that  they 
could  not  leave  the  field,  but  kept  up  their  revels 
from  day  to  day.  Their  revels,  however,  were  at 
length  broken  up  sorrowfully  for  them.  General 
Scott,  hearing  of  the  disaster,  pushed  on  for  the 
field  with  one  thousand  mounted  A^olunteers  from 
Kentucky.  The  Indians  were  dancing  and  sing 
ing,  and  riding  the  horses  and  oxen  in  high  glee 
Scott  instantly  attacked  them  ;  two  hundred  wer» 
killed,  their  plunder  retaken,  and  the  whole  body 
of  savages  driven  from  the  ground. 

When  Congress  met  soon  after  this,  of  course 
this  wTetched  Indian  war  was  much  talked  of.  It 
was  proposed  at  once  to  raise  three  additional 
regiments.  Upon  this  a  hot  debate  sprang  up,  the 
proposal  was  opposed  warmly  ;  the  opponents  said 
that  it  would  be  necessary  to  lay  a  heavy  tax  up- 
on the  people  to  raise  them,  that  the  war  had  been 
badly  managed,  and  should  have  been  trusted  to 
the  militia  in  the  west  under  their  own  officers, 
and,  moreover,  that  no  success  could  be  expected 
so  long  as  the  British  continued  to  hold  posts  in 
our  own  limits,  and  furnish  the  Indians  with  arms, 
ammunition,  and  advice. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  declared  that  the  war 


DANIEL    BOONE.  123 

was  a  just  and  necessary  one.  It  was  shown  that 
in  seven  years  (between  1783  and  1790),  fifteen 
hundred  people  in  Kentucky  had  been  murdered 
or  taken  captives  by  the  savages ;  while  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia  matters  had  been  well  nigh 
as  bad ;  that  everything  had  been  done  to  settle 
matters  peaceably  but  all  to  no  purpose.  In  1790, 
when  a  treaty  was  proposed  to  the  Indians  of  the 
Miami,  they  asked  for  thirty  days  to  deliberate — 
the  request  was  granted — during  those  thirty  days 
one  hundred  and  twenty  persons  had  been  killed 
or  captured,  and  at  the  end  of  the  time  the  sav- 
ages refused  to  give  any  answer  to  the  proposal. 
At  last  the  vote  was  taken — the  resolution  passed 
— the  war  was  to  be  carried  on — the  regiments 
were  to  be  raised. 

General  St.  Clair  now  resigned  the  command 
of  the  army,  and  Major  General  Anthony  Wayne 
was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  This  appointment 
gave  great  joy  to  the  western  people  ;  the  man 
was  so  well  known  among  them  for  his  daring  and 
bravery,  that  he  commonly  v/ent  by  the  name  of 
"  Mad  Anthony." 

After  much  delay,  the  regiments  were  at  last 
gathered  together.  Some  still  opposed  this  war 
and  in  order  to  prove  to  them  that  the  government 
was  willing  to  settle  matters  peaceably,  if  possible, 
two  officers — Colonel  Hardin  and  Major  Truman, 
were  now  sent  off  to  the  Indians  with  proposals 


124  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

of  peace.     They  were  both  seized  and  murdered 
by  the  savages. 

Wayne  now  started  out  upon  his  expedition.  In 
a  little  time  he  passed  Fort  Jefferson,  took  posses- 
sion of  St.  Clair's  fatal  field,  and  erected  a  fort 
there  which  he  called  Fort  Recovery.  He  now 
learned  the  truth  of  the  stories  about  the  British. 
A  number  of  British  soldiers  had  come  down  from 
Detroit,  and  fortified  themselves  on  the  Miami  of 
the  lakes.  It  was  rumored  too,  that  in  some  of  the 
Indian  fights  and  massacres,  the  English  were 
seen  amonsf  them,  fighting  and  urging  them  on. 

The  General  continued  his  march,  and  early  ir 
August  reached  the  confluence  of  the  Miami  of 
the  Lakes  and  the  Au  Glaize.  This  was  one  of 
the  finest  countries  of  the  Indians,  it  was  about 
thirty  miles  from  the  British  post,  and  he  discov- 
ered here,  that  two  thousand  warriors  were  near 
that  post  ready  to  meet  him.  Wayne  was  glad  to 
hear  this  ;  his  army  was  quite  as  strong,  and  he 
longed  to  meet  the  savages.  As  he  drew  near, 
however,  he  determined  once  more  to  have  peace 
if  possible,  without  shedding  blood.  A  message 
was  sent  to  the  Indians,  urging  them  not  to  follow 
the  advice  of  bad  men,  to  lay  down  their  arms,  to 
learn  to  live  peaceably,  and  their  lives  and  their 
homes  should  be  protected  by  the  government. 
An  insolent  answer,  was  all  that  was  received  in 
reply. 


DANIEL    BOONE.  125 

Wayne's  army  now  marclied  on  in  columns — a 
select  battalion,  under  Major  Price,  moving  in  front 
to  reconnoitre.  After  marching  about  five  miles, 
Price  was  driven  back  by  the  fire  of  the  Indians. 
As  usual,  the  cunning  enemy  was  concealed ; 
they  had  hid  themselves  in  a  thick  wood  a  little 
in  advance  of  the  British  post,  and  here  Price  had 
received  their  fire. 

Wayne  had  now  found  out  precisely  where 
they  were,  and  gave  his  orders  accordingly.  The 
cavalry  under  Captain  Campbell  were  commanded 
to  enter  the  wood  in  the  rear  of  the  Indians,  be- 
tween them  and  the  river,  and  charge  their  left 
flank.  General  Scott,  with  eleven  hundred  mount- 
ed Kentucky  volunteers,  was  to  make  a  circuit  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  attack  the  right.  The 
infantry  were  to  advance  with  trailed  arms,  and 
rouse  the  enemy  from  their  hiding-places.  All 
being  ready,  the  infantry  commenced  their  march. 
The  Indians  were  at  once  routed  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  The  infantry  had  done  the  whole  ; 
Campbell  and  Scott  had  hardly  the  chance  of  do- 
ing any  of  the  fighting.  In  the  course  of  an  hour, 
they  had  driven  the  savages  back  two  miles  ;  in 
fact,  within  gim-shot  of  the  British  post. 

Wayne  had  now  the  possession  of  the  whole 

ground,  and  here  he  remained  three  days,  burning 

their  houses  and  cornfields  above   and  below  the 

fort.     One  Englishman  suflJered,  too,  in  this  work 

11* 


126  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

of  destruction.  Colonel  M'Kee  was  known  as  a 
British  trader, for  ever  instigating  the  Indians  against 
the  Americans,  and  Wayne  did  not  scruple  to 
burn  all  his  houses  and  stores  likewise.  Major 
Campbell,  who  commanded  the  British  fort,  re- 
monstrated at  this,  but  Wayne  gave  him  a  bold  and 
determined  answer  in  reply,  and  he  had  no  more 
to  say.  A  few  words  from  him  would  only  have 
caused  Wayne  to  drive  him  from  the  country. 

The  army  now  returned  to  Au  Glaize,  destroy- 
ing all  the  houses,  villages,  and  crops  by  the  way. 
It  was  one  complete  work  of  destruction  ;  within 
fifty  miles  of  the  river  everything  was  destroyed. 
In  this  campaign,  W^ayne  had  lost  one  hundred  and 
seven  men,  and  among  them  were  two  brave  offi- 
cers— Captain  Campbell  and  Lieutenant  Towles, 
but  still  he  had  gained  a  glorious  victory.  In  his 
track,  too,  he  had  not  forgotten  to  build  forts,  to 
guard  against  the  savages  in  future. 

The  story  of  the  victory  soon  spread,  and  struck 
terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  Indians  north  and  south. 
They  were  restless  and  dissatisfied,  but  w^ar  was 
sure  destruction  to  them  ;  they  felt  that  it  was  idle 
to  attempt  it  further,  and  were  ready  to  be  quiet. 
In  less  than  a  year  from  this  time,  Wayne  con- 
cluded a  treaty,  in  behalf  of  the  United  States, 
with  all  the  Indian  tribes  northwest  of  the  Ohio. 
The  settlers  at  last  had  peace — a  blessing  which 
they  had  long  desired. 


DANIEL    BOONE. 


127 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


ITH  the  return  of  peace,  the 
settlers    were    very     happy. 
They  could  now  go  out,  fell 
the  forests,  and  cultivate  their 
fields  in  safety.     There  was 
no  longer  any  wily  savage  to 
lay  in  ambush,  and  keep  them 
in  perpetual  anxiety.   No  man 
among    them    was     happier    than 
Boone.     He  had  been  harassed  by 
constant    struggles    ever  since    he 
came  to  Kentucky,  and  these  strug- 
gles with  the  savages  had  made  him 
a  warrior  rather  than  a  hunter  ;  but  he 
could  now  return   to  his   darling  pas- 
^/j  sion.       While    others    cultivated    the 

ground,  he  roamed  through  the  wilderness  with 
his  rifle  ;  he  was  now  a  hunter  indeed,  spending 
weeks  and  months  uninterruptedly  in  the  forests. 
By  day  he  moved  where  hr,  pleased,  and  at  night 
made  his  camp  fearlessly  wherever  the  shades  of 


128  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

night  overtook  him.  His  life  was  now  happier 
than  ever. 

Ere  long,  however,  a  cloud  came  over  this  hap- 
piness. Men  began  again  to  crowd  too  closely 
upon  him.  In  spite  of  all  the  early  struggles  with 
the  savages  in  Kentucky,  emigrants  had  continued 
to  flow  into  that  country.  As  early  as  1783,  Ken- 
tucky had  been  laid  off  into  three  counties,  and 
was  that  year  formed  into  one  district,  and  called 
the  District  of  Kentucky.  In  1785,  a  convention 
was  called  at  Danville,  and  a  memorial  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  proposing 
that  Kentucky  should  be  erected  into  an  indepen- 
dent State.  In  1786,  the  legislature  of  Virginia 
took  the  necessary  steps  for  making  the  new  State, 
if  Congress  would  admit  it  into  the  Union.  In 
1792,  Kentucky  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
one  of  the  United  States  of  America.  And  now 
that  peace  had  come  to  aid  the  settlers,  emigration 
flowed  in  more  rapidly.  Court-houses,  jails,  judges, 
lawyers,  sheriffs,  and  constables,  began  necessa- 
rily to  be  seen.  Kentucky  was  becoming  every 
day  a  more  settled  and  civilized  region,  and  Boone's 
heart  grew  sick.  He  had  sought  the  wilderness, 
and  men  were  fast  taking  it  away  from  him.  He 
began  to  think  of  moving. 

Another  sorrow  now  came  over  him,  and  soon 
fixed  in  him  the  determination  to  seek  a  new  home. 
Men  began  to  dispute  with  him  the  title  to  his 


DANIEL    BOONE.  129 

land.  The  State  of  Kentucky  had  not  been  sur- 
veyed by  the  government,  and  laid  off  into  sections 
and  townships,  as  the  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  river 
liave  since  been.  The  government  of  Virginia 
had  issued  certificates,  entitling  the  holder  to  locate 
where  he  pleased  the  number  of  acres  called  for. 
To  actual  settlers,  who  should  build  a  cabin,  raise 
a  crop,  &c.,  pre-emption  rights  to  such  lands  as 
they  might  occupy  were  also  granted.  Entries 
of  these  certificates  were  made  in  a  way  so  loose, 
that  different  men  frequently  located  the  same 
lands ;  one  title  would  often  lap  over  upon  anoth- 
er ;  and  ahnost  all  the  titles  conferred  in  this  way 
became  known  as  "  the  lapping,  or  shingle  titles." 
Continued  lawsuits  sprang  out  of  this  state  of 
things ;  no  man  knew  what  belonged  to  him. 
Boone  had  made  these  loose  entries  of  his  lands : 
his  titles,  of  course,  were  disputed.  It  was  curi- 
ous to  see  the  old  man  in  a  court  of  law,  which  he 
thoroughly  despised,  fighting  for  his  rights.  He 
was  greatly  provoked  ;  he  had  explored  and  re- 
deemed the  wilderness,  as  he  said,  borne  every 
hardship  with  his  wife  and  children,  only  to  be 
cheated  at  last.  But  the  law  decided  against  him  ; 
he  lost  his  lands,  and  would  now  no  longer  remain 
in  that  region. 

Hearing  that  buffaloes  arid  deer  were  still  plenty 
about  the  Great  Kanhawa  river,  he  started  thither 
with  his  wife  and  children,  and  settled  near  Point 


130  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Pleasant.  Here  lie  remained  several  years.  Ho 
was  disappointed  in  not  finding  game  as  he  expect- 
ed, and  was  more  of  a  farmer  here  than  ever  be- 
fore ;  he  turned  his  attention  earnestly  to  agricul- 
ture, and  was  very  successful  in  raising  good 
crops.  Still  he  was  dissatisfied  ;  he  longed  for 
the  wilderness.  Hunting  and  trapping  were  the 
constant  thoughts  of  his  life. 

While  living  here,  he  met  accidentally  with  a 
party  of  men  who  had  been  out  upon  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Missouri.  These  men  talked  of  the 
beauty  of  that  region  :  they  had  stories  to  tell  of 
grizzly  bears,  buffaloes,  deer,  beavers,  and  otters — 
in  fact,  the  region  was  in  their  eyes  "  the  paradise 
for  a  hunter."  Fired  by  these  stories,  Boone  re- 
solved to  go  there.  Accordingly,  he  gathered  to- 
gether all  that  he  possessed,  and  with  his  wife  and 
family  started  for  Missouri,  driving  his  herds  and 
cattle  before  him.  It  was  strange  to  see  an  old 
man  thus  vigorous  in  seeking  a  new  home.  He 
was  an  object  of  surprise  to  everyone.  When  he 
reached  Cincinnati,  on  his  route,  some  one,  mark- 
ing his  age,  and  surprised  at  his  adventure,  asked 
him  how,  at  his  time  of  life,  he  could  leave  all  the 
comforts  of  home,  for  the  wilderness.  His  answer 
shows  his  whole  character  :  "  Too  much  crowded, 
too  much  crowded,"  said  he  ;  "  I  want  more  elbow- 
room."     Travelling  on,  he  at  length  reached  Mis- 


DANIEL    BOONE.  131 

soiiri,  and,  proceeding  about  fifty  miles  above  St. 
Louis,  settled  in  what  is  now  St.  Charles  county. 

Here  everything  pleased  Boone.  The  country, 
as  you  know,  was  then  in  the  possession  of  the 
French  and  Spanish,  and  the  old  laws  by  which 
their  territories  were  governed  were  still  in  force 
there.  They  had  no  constitution,  no  king,  no 
legislature,  no  judges,  lawyers,  or  sheriffs.  An 
officer  called  the  commandant,  and  the  priests,  ex- 
ercised all  the  authority  that  was  needed.  The 
horses,  cattle,  flocks,  and  herds  of  these  people  all 
grazed  together  upon  the  same  commons  ;  in  fact, 
they  were  living  here  almost  in  primitive  sim- 
plicity. Boone's  character  for  honesty  and  cour- 
age soon  became  known  among  them,  and  he  was 
appointed  by  the  Spanish  commandant  the  com- 
mandant over  the  district  of  St.  Charles. 

Boone  now  had  the  satisfaction  of  settling  all 
his  children  comfortably  around  him,  and  in  the 
unbroken  wilderness  his  hunting  and  trapping  was 
unmolested.  In  his  office  of  commandant  he  gave 
great  satisfaction  to  every  one,  and  continued 
to  occupy  it  until  Missouri  was  purchased  by 
our  government  from  the  French.  When  that 
purchase  was  made,  American  enterprise  soon 
came  upon  him  again — he  was  once  more  crowd- 
ed by  his  fellow-men.  His  old  office  of  command- 
ant was  soon  merged  in  the  new  order  of  things 
— his  hunting-grounds  were    invaded  by  others, 


132  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Nothing  remained  for  him  now,  but  to  submit  to  his 
fate  ;  he  was  too  old  to  move  again,  nor  indeed  did 
he  know  where  to  go.  He  continued  his  old  hab- 
its, as  well  he  might.  He  would  start  out  with  his 
rifle,  now  marked  with  a  paper  sight  to  guide  his 
dim  eye,  and  be  absent  from  his  home  for  weeks. 
Nearly  eighty  years  had  passed  over  him,  yet  he 
would  lie  in  wait  near  the  salt-licks,  and  bring 
down  his  bufl^alo  or  his  deer,  and  as  bravely  and 
cheerily  as  in  his  younger  days,  would  he  cut  down 
bee-trees.  As  the  light-hearted  Frenchmen  swept 
up  the  river  in  their  fleets  of  periogues  on  their 
hunting  excursions,  Boone  would  cheer  them  as 
they  passed,  and  sigh  for  his  younger  days  that 
he  might  join  their  parties.  He  was  a  complete 
Nimrod,  now  almost  worn  out. 

It  was  while  he  was  living  here,  I  think,  that 
he  was  met  by  that  A-^ery  interesting  man,  Mr.  Au- 
dubon, the  natural  historian  of  our  continent.  He 
was  struck  with  the  man,  and  has  given  the 
story  of  his  interview  with  Boone.  It  is  so  illus- 
trative of  the  charactor  of  the  hunter,  that  I  give 
it  to  you  in  Mr.  Audubon's  words. 

"  Daniel  Boone,  or  as  he  was  usually  called  in 
the  western  country.  Colonel  Boone,  happened  to 
spend  a  night  under  the  same  roof  with  me,  more 
than  twenty  years  ago.  We  had  returned  from  a 
shooting  excursion,  in  the  course  of  which  his 
extraordinary  skill   in  the  management  of  a  rifle 


DANIEL    BOONE.  133 

had  been  fully  displayed.     On  retiring  to  the  room 
appropriated  to  that  remarkable  individual  and  my- 
self for  the  night,  I  felt  anxious  to  know  more  of 
his  exploits  and  adventures  than  I  did,  and  accord- 
ingly took  the  liberty  of  proposing  numerous  ques- 
tions  to  him.     The  stature  and   general  appear- 
ance of  this  wanderer  of  the  western  forests,  ap- 
proached the  gigantic.     His  chest  was  broad  and 
prominent ;  his  muscular  powers  displayed  them- 
selves in  every  limb  ;  his  countenance  gave  indi- 
cation of  his  great  courage,  enterprise,  and  perse- 
verance ;  and  when  he  spoke,  the  very  motion  of 
his  lips  brought  the  impression,  that  whatever  he 
uttered  could  not  be  otherwise  than  strictly  true. 
I  undressed,  while  he  merely  took  ofl'  his  hunting 
shirt,  and  arranged  a  few  folds  of  blankets  on  the 
floor  ;  choosing  rather  to  lie  there,  as  he  observed, 
than  on  the  softest  bed.     When  we  had  both  dis- 
posed of  ourselves,  each  after  his  own  fashion,  he 
related  to  me  the  following  account  of  his  powers 
of  memory,  which  I  lay  before  you,  kind  reader, 
in  his  own  words,  hoping  that  the  simpUcity  of  his 
style  may  prove  interesting  to  you. 

"  I  was  once,"  said  he,  "  on  a  hunting  expedi- 
tion on  the  banks  of  the  Green  river,  when  the 
lower  parts  of  this  (Kentucky)  were  still  in  the 
hands  of  nature,  and  none  but  the  sons  of  the  soil 
were  looked  upon  as  its  lawful  proprietors.  We 
Virginians  had  for  some  time  been  waging  a  war 
12 


134  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

of  intrusion  upon  them,  and  I,  among  the  rest,  ram- 
bled through  the  woods,  in  pursuit  of  their  race, 
as  I  now  would  follow  the  tracks  of  any  ravenous 
animal.  The  Indians  outwitted  me  one  dark  night, 
and  I  was  as  unexpectedly  as  suddenly  made  a  pris- 
oner by  them.  The  trick  had  been  managed  with 
great  skill ;  for  no  sooner  had  I  extinguished  the 
fire  of  my  camp,  and  laid  me  down  to  rest,  in  full 
security,  as  I  thought,  than  I  felt  myself  seized  by 
an  indistinguishable  number  of  hands,  and  was 
immediately  pinioned,  as  if  about  to  be  led  to  the 
scaffold  for  execution.  To  have  attempted  to  be 
refractory,  would  have  proved  useless  and  danger- 
ous to  my  life  ;  and  I  suffered  myself  to  be  re- 
moved from  my  camp  to  theirs,  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant, without  uttering  even  a  word  of  complaint. 
You  are  aware,  I  dare  say,  that  to  act  in  this  man- 
ner, was  the  best  policy,  as  you  understand  that 
by  so  doing,  I  proved  to  the  Indians  at  once,,  that 
I  was  born  and  bred  as  fearless  of  death  as  any 
of  themselves. 

*'  When  we  reached  the  camp,  great  rejoicings 
were  exhibited.  Two  squaws,  and  a  few  pap 
coses,  appeared  particularly  delighted  at  the  sight 
of  me,  and  I  was  assured,  by  very  unequivocal 
gestures  and  words,  that,  on  the  morrow,  the  mor- 
tal enemy  of  the  red-skins  would  cease  to  live.  I 
never  opened  my  lips,  but  was  busy  contriving 
some  scheme  which  might  enable  me  to  give  the 


DANIEL    BOONE,  135 

rascals  the  slip  before  dawn.  The  women  imme- 
diately fell  a  searching  about  my  hunting-shirt  for 
whatever  they  might  think  valuable,  and  fortunately 
for  me,  soon  found  my  flask,  filled  with  Mononga- 
hela  (that  is,  reader,  strong  whiskey).  A  terrific 
grin  was  exhibited  on  their  murderous  counten- 
ances, while  my  heart  throbbed  with  joy  at  the 
anticipation  of  their  intoxication.  The  crew  im- 
mediately began  to  beat  their  bellies  and  sing,  as 
they  passed  the  bottle  from  mouth  to  mouth.  How 
often  did  I  wish  the  flask  ten  times  its  size,  and 
filled  with  aquafortis  !  I  observed  that  the  squaws 
drank  more  freely  than  the  warriors,  and  again 
my  spirits  were  about  to  be  depressed,  when 
the  report  of  a  gun  was  heard  at  a  distance. 
The  Indians  all  jumped  on  their  feet.  The 
singing  and  drinking  were  both  brought  to  a 
stand  ;  and  I  saw  with  inexpressible  joy,  the  men 
walk  off"  to  some  distance,  and  talk  to  the  squaws. 
I  knew  that  they  were  consulting  about  me,  and  I 
foresaw,  that  in  a  few  moments  the  warriors  would 
go  to  discover  the  cause  of  the  gun  having  been 
fired  so  near  their  camp.  I  expected  the  squaws 
would  be  left  to  guard  me.  Well,  sir,  it  was  just 
so  They  returned  ;  the  men  took  up  their  guns 
and  walked  away.  The  squaws  sat  down  again, 
and  in  less  than  five  minutes  they  had  my  bottle 
up  to  their  dirty  mouths,  gurgling  down  their 
throats  the  remains  of  the  whiskey. 


136  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  With  what  pleasure  did  I  see  them  becoming 
more  and  more  drunk,  until  the  liquor  took  such 
hold  of  them  that  it  was  quite  impossible  for  these 
women  to  be  of  any  service.  They  tumbled  down, 
rolled  about,  and  began  to  snore  ;  when  I,  having 
no  other  chance  of  freeing  myself  from  the  cords 
that  fastened  me,  rolled  over  and  over  toward  the 
fire,  and  after  a  short  time  burned  them  asunder. 
I  rose  on  my  feet ;  stretched  my  stiffened  sinews  ; 
snatched  up  my  rifle,  and,  for  once  in  my  life, 
spared  that  of  Indians.  I  now  recollect  how  de- 
sirous I  once  or  twice  felt  to  lay  open  the  sculls 
of  the  wretches  with  my  tomahawk  ;  but  when  I 
again  thought  upon  killing  beings  unprepared  and 
unable  to  defend  themselves,  it  looked  like  murder 
without  need,  and  I  gave  up  the  idea. 

"  But,  sir,  I  felt  determined  to  mark  the  spot, 
and  walking  to  a  thrifty  ash  sapling,  I  cut  out  of 
it  three  large  chips,  and  ran  off.  I  soon  reached 
the  river ;  soon  crossed  it,  and  threw  myself  deep 
into  the  canebrakes,  imitating  the  tracks  of  an  In- 
dian with  my  feet,  so  that  no  chance  might  be  left 
for  those  from  whom  I  had  escaped  to  overtake 
me, 

"  It  is  now  nearly  twenty  years  since  this  hap- 
pened, and  more  than  five  since  I  left  the  whites' 
settlements,  which  I  might  probably  never  have 
visited  again,  had  I  not  been  called  on  as  a  wit- 
ness in  a  lawsuit  that  was  pending  in  Kentucky 


DANIEL    BOONE.  137 

and  which,  I  really  believe,  would  never  have  been 
settled,  had  I  not  come  forward,  and  established 
the  beginning  of  a  certain  boundary  line.  This 
is  the  story,  sir, 

"  Mr. moved  from  old  Virginia  into  Ken- 
tucky, and  having  a  large  tract  granted  to  him  in 
the  new  state,  laid  claim  to  a  certain  parcel  of  land 
adjoining  Green  river,  and  as  chance  would  have 
it,  he  took  for  one  of  his  corners  the  very  ash  tree 
on  which  I  had  made  my  mark,  and  finished  his 
survey  of  some  thousands  of  acres,  beginning,  as 
it  is  expressed  in  the  deed,  *  at  an  ash  marked  by 
three  distinct  notches  of  the  tomahawk  of  a  white 
man.* 

"  The  tree  had  grown  much,  and  the  bark  had 
covered  the  marks ;  but,  some  how  or  other,  Mr. 

heard  from  some  one  all  that  I  have  already 

said  to  you,  and  thinking  that  I  might  remember 
the  spot  alluded  to  in  the  deed,  but  which  was  no 
longer  discoverable,  wrote  for  me  to  come  and  try 
at  least  to  find  the  place  on  the  tree.  His  letter 
mentioned,  that  all  my  expenses  should  be  paid  ; 
and  not  caring  much  about  once  more  going  back 

to  Kentucky,  I  started  and  met  Mr. .     After 

sonys  conversation,  the  aflfair  with  the  Indians 
came  to  my  recollection.  I  considered  for  a  while, 
and  began  to  think  that  after  all,  I  could  find  the 
very  spot,  as  well  as  the  tree,  if  it  was  yet  stand- 
ing.    • 

12* 


138  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  Mr. and  I  mounted  our  horses,  and  off 

we  went  to  the  Green  river  bottoms.  After  some 
difficulties,  for  you  must  be  aware,  sir,  that  great 
changes  had  taken  place  in  these  woods,  I  found 
at  last  the  spot  where  I  had  crossed  the  river,  and 
waiting  for  the  moon  to  rise,  made  for  the  course 
in  which  I  thought  the  ash  tree  grew.  On  ap- 
proaching the  place,  I  felt  as  if  the  Indians  were 
there  still,  and  as  if  I  was  still  a  prisoner  among 
them.  Mr. and  I  camped  near  what  I  con- 
ceived the  spot,  and  waited  till  the  return  of  day. 

"  At  the  rising  of  the  sun  I  was  on  foot,  and 
after  a  good  deal  of  musing,  thought  that  an  ash 
tree  then  in  sight  must  be  the  very  one  on  which 
I  had  made  my  mark.  I  felt  as  if  there  could  be 
no  doubt  of  it,  and  mentioned  my  thought  to  Mr. 

.     '  Well,  Colonel  Boone,'   said  he,  '  if  you 

think  so,  I  hope  it  may  prove  true,  but  we  must 
have  some  witnesses  ;  do  you  stay  hereabout,  and 
I  will  go  and  bring  some  of  the  settlers  whom  I 

know.'     I  agreed.     Mr. trotted  off,  and  I,  to 

pass  the  time,  rambled  about  to  see  if  a  deer  was 
still  living  in  the  land.  But  ah!  sir,  what  a  won- 
derful difference  thirty  years  make  in  the  country ! 
Why,  at  the  time  when  I  was  caught  by  the  Jn- 
dians,  you  would  not  have  walked  out  in  any  di- 
rection for  more  than  a  mile  without  shooting  a 
buck  or  a  bear.  There  were  ten  thousands  of  buf- 
faloes on  the  hills  in  Kentucky ;  the  land  looked 


DANIEL    BOONE.  139 

as  if  it  would  never  become  poor ;  and  to  hunt  in 
those  days  was  a  pleasure  indeed.  But  when  1 
was  left  to  myself  on  the  banks  of  the  Green  riv- 
er, I  dare  say  for  the  last  time  in  my  life,  a  few 
sig}is  only  of  deer  were  to  be  seen,  and  as  to  a 
deer  itself,  I  saw  none. 

"  Mr. returned,  accompanied  by  three  gen- 
tlemen. They  looked  upon  me  as  if  I  had  been 
Washington  himself,  and  walked  to  the  ash  tree 
which  I  now  called  my  own,  as  if  in  quest  of  a 
long  lost  treasure.  I  took  an  axe  from  one  of 
them  and  cut  a  few  chips  off  the  bark.  Still  no 
signs  were  to  be  seen.  So  I  cut  again,  until  I 
thought  it  time  to  be  cautious,  and  I  scraped  and 
worked  away  with  my  butcher  knife,  until  I  did 
come  to  where  my  tomahawk  had  left  an  impres- 
sion in  the  wood.  We  now  went  regularly  to 
work,  and  scraped  at  the  tree  with  care,  until  three 
hacks,  as  plain  as  any  three  notches  ever  were, 
could  be  seen.  Mr. and  the  other  gentle- 
men were  astonished,  and,  I  must  allow,  I  was  as 
much  surprised  as  pleased,  myself.  I  made  affi- 
davit of  this  remarkable  occurrence  in  the  presence 

of  these  gentlemen.     Mr. gained  his  cause. 

I  left  Green  river,  for  ever,  and  came  to  where 
we  now  are  ;  and,  sir,  I  wish  you  a  good  night." 

Here,  too,  it  was  that  he  resided,  when  Mr.  As- 
tor  attempted  to  carry  out  his  magnificent  design, 
of  settling  Astoria  on  the  western  coast  of  our 


140  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

continent,  and  belting  the  earth  with  his  com- 
merce.  When  you  are  older,  you  can  read  the 
beautiful  history  of  that  attempt,  written  by  our 
distinguished  countryman  Mr.  Irving.  As  the  par- 
ty, bound  for  the  far  west,  moved  up  the  Missouri, 
Boone  stood  upon  the  banks  of  the  stream,  looking 
anxiously  after  them.  It  was  just  the  adventure 
to  please  him.  There  the  old  man  stood,  leaning 
upon  his  rifle,  his  dim  eye  lighted  up  as  he  gazed 
upon  them,  and  his  heart  heavy  with  sorrow,  be- 
cause he  was  too  old  to  press  with  them,  beyond 
the  mountains.* 

Other  sorrows  than  those  of  age,  now  crept  up- 
on him.  His  wife,  who  had  been  to  him  all  that 
was  good,  was  now  taken  from  him,  and  the  old 
man  was  left  widowed.  With  a  sad  heart  he  now 
went  to  the  home  of  his  son,  Major  Nathan  Boone. 

The  last  war  with  England  now  broke  out,  too, 
and  penetrated  even  the  wilds  of  Missouri.  It 
was  the  worst  of  all  warfare — the  savages  were 
let  loose  upon  them.  Boone  was  too  old  to  act 
the  part  of  a  soldier,  but  he  sent  off  many  substi- 
tutes in  his  sons. 

When  peace  returned,  the  spirit  of  the  old  man 
rallied  ;  his  ruling  passion  was  still  with  him. 
The  woods  were  again  his  home,  his  rifle  his  com- 
panion ;  and  thus  he  lived  on,  through  a  vigorous 
old  age,  with  a  passion  as  strong  as  ever,  a  hunter 

*  See  Irvinff's  Astoria. 


DANIEL    BOOXE.  141 

almost  to  the  very  day  of  his  death.  For  when,  in 
1818,  death  came  upon  him,  he  had  but  little  no- 
tice of  its  approach.  With  no  disease  but  old  age, 
which  had  seemed  comparatively  vigorous  almost 
to  the  day  of  his  departure,  he  died  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year.  His  mind  was  unclouded  and  he 
passed  from  this  world  calmly  and  quietly. 

I  have  but  one  thing  more  to  say.  You  remem- 
ber Daniel  Boone's  schoolboy  days,  of  which  I 
have  spoken.  He  left  school  a  perfectly  ignorant 
lad.  Some  say  that  he  afterward  learned  to  write, 
and  produce  as  an  evidence,  a  little  narrative  of  his 
wanderings  in  Kentucky,  supposed  to  be  written 
by  himself.  I  believe,  however,  that  to  the  day  of 
bis  death,  he  could  not  write  his  name.  The  narra- 
tive spoken  of,  was,  I  think,  dictated  in  some  de- 
gree by  him,  and  written  by  another.  At  all  events, 
the  story  is  interesting  and  curious,  and,  as  such, 
I  have  placed  it  for  your  benefit,  as  an  appendix  to 
this  volume. 


APPENDIX. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  COLONEL  D^iNIEL  BOONE, 

FORMERLY   A   HUNTER; 

CONTAINING  A  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  WARS  OF  KENTUCKY, 

AS    GIVEN    BY    HIMSELF. 


URIOSITY  is  natural  to  the 
soul  of  man,  and  interesting 
objects  have  a  powerful  influ- 
ence on  our  affections.     Let 
f?^ these  influencing  powers  ac- 
tuate, by  the  permission   or 
disposal  of  Providence,  from 
selfish  or  social  views,  yet  in 
time  the  mysterious  will  of  Heaven 
is  unfolded,  and  we  behold  our  con- 
duct, from  whatsoever  motives  ex- 
cited, operating  to  answer  the  im- 
portant designs  of  Heaven.     Thus 
we  behold  Kentucky,  lately  a  howling 
wilderness,  the  habitation   of  savages 
and  wild  beasts,  become  a  fruitful  field ; 
this  region,  so  favorably  distinguished  by  nature, 


144  APPENDIX. 

now  become  the  habitation  of  civilization,  at  a  pe- 
riod unparalleled  in  history,  in  the  midst  of  a 
raging  war,  and  under  all  the  disadvantages  of 
emigration  to  a  country  so  remote  from  the  inhab- 
ited parts  of  the  continent.  Here,  where  the  hand 
of  violence  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent ;  where 
the  horrid  yells  of  savages  and  the  groans  of 
the  distressed  sounded  in  our  ears,  we  now  hear 
the  praises  and  adorations  of  our  Creator  ;  where 
wretched  wigwams  stood,  the  miserable  abodes 
of  savages,  we  behold  the  foundations  of  cities 
laid,  that,  in  all  probability,  will  equal  the  glory 
of  the  greatest  upon  earth.  And  we  view  Ken- 
tucky, situated  on  the  fertile  banks  of  the  great 
Ohio,  rising  from  obscurity  to  shine  with  splendor, 
equal  to  any  other  of  the  stars  of  the  American 
hemisphere. 

The  settling  of  this  region  well  deserves  a  place 
in  history.  Most  of  the  memorable  events  I  have 
myself  been  exercised  in  ;  and,  for  the  satisfaction 
of  the  public,  will  briefly  relate  the  circumstances 
of  my  adventures,  and  scenes  of  life,  from  my  first 
movement  to  this  country  until  this  day. 

It  was  on  the  first  of  May,  in  the  year  1769, 
that  I  resigned  my  domestic  happiness  for  a  time, 
and  left  my  family  and  peaceable  habitartion  on 
the  Yadkin  river,  in  North  Carolina,  to  wander 
through  the  wilderness  of  America,  in  quest  of 
the  country  of  Kentucky,  in  company  with  Jolia 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF    DANIEL    BOONE.       145 

Finley,  John  Stewart,  Joseph  Holden,  James  Mo- 
nay,  and  William  Cool.  We  proceeded  success- 
fully, and  after  a  long  and  fatiguing  journey  through 
a  mountainous  wilderness,  in  a  westward  direc- 
tion, on  the  7th  day  of  June  following  we  found 
ourselves  on  Red  river,  where  John  Finley  had 
formerly  been  trading  with  the  Indians,  and,  from 
the  top  of  an  eminence,  saw  with  pleasure  the 
beautiful  level  of  Kentucky.  Here  let  me  observe 
that  for  some  time  we  had  experienced  the  most 
uncomfortable  weather,  as  a  prelibation  of  our  fu- 
ture sufferings.  At  this  place  we  encamped,  and 
made  a  shelter  to  defend  us  from  the  inclement 
season,  and  began  to  hunt  and  reconnoitre  the 
country.  We  found  everywhere  abundance  of 
wild  beasts  of  all  sorts,  through  this  vast  forest. 
The  bufialo  were  more  frequent  than  I  have  seen 
cattle  in  the  settlements,  browsing  on  the  leaves 
of  the  cane,  or  cropping  the  herbage  on  those  ex- 
tensive plains,  fearless,  because  ignorant,  of  the 
violence  of  man.  Sometimes  we  saw  hundreds 
in  a  drove,  and  the  numbers  about  the  salt  springs 
were  amazing.  In  this  forest,  the  habitation  of 
beasts  of  every  kind  natural  to  America,  we  prac- 
tised hunting  with  great  success  until  the  22d  day 
of  December  following. 

This  day  John  Stewart  and  I  had  a  pleasing 
ramble,  but  fortune  changed  the  scene  in  the  close 
of  it.     We  had  passed  through  a  great  forest,  on 
13 


146  APPENDIX. 

which  stood  myriads  of  trees,  some  gay  with  blos- 
soms, and  others  rich  with  fruits.  Nature  was 
here  a  series  of  wonders,  and  a  fund  of  delight. 
Here  she  displayed  her  ingenuity  and  industry  in 
a  variety  of  flowers  and  fruits,  beautifully  colored, 
elegantly  shaped,  and  charmingly  flavored  ;  and  we 
were  diverted  with  innumerable  animals  present- 
ing themselves  perpetually  to  our  view.  In  the 
decline  of  the  day,  near  Kentucky  river,  as  we 
ascended  the  brow  of  a  small  hill,  a  number  of 
Indians  rushed  out  of  a  thick  canebrake  upon  us, 
and  made  us  prisoners.  The  time  of  our  sorrow 
was  now  arrived,  and  the  scene  fully  opened. 
The  Indians  plundered  us  of  what  we  had,  and 
kept  us  in  confinement  seven  days,  treating  us 
with  common  savage  usage.  During  this  time  we 
discovered  no  uneasiness  or  desire  to  escape, 
which  made  them  less  suspicious  of  us  ;  but  in 
the  dead  of  night,  as  we  lay  in  a  thick  canebrake 
by  a  large  fire,  when  sleep  had  locked  up  their 
senses,  my  situation  not  disposing  me  for  rest,  I 
touched  my  companion,  and  gently  awoke  him. 
We  improved  this  favorable  opportunity,  and  de- 
parted, leaving  them  to  take  their  rest,  and  speedily 
directed  our  course  toward  our  old  camp,  but  found 
it  plundered,  and  the  company  dispersed  and  gone 
home.  About  this  time  my  brother.  Squire  Boone, 
with  another  adventurer,  who  came  to  explore  the 
country  shortly  after  us,  was  wandering  through 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.    147 

the  forest,  determined  to  find  me  if  possible,  and 
accidentally  found  our  camp.  Notwithstanding 
the  unfortunate  circumstances  of  our  company,  and 
our  dangerous  situation,  as  surrounded  with  hos- 
tile savages,  our  meeting  so  fortunately  in  the 
wilderness  made  us  reciprocally  sensible  of  the 
utmost  satisfaction.  So  much  does  friendship  tri- 
umph over  misfortune,  that  sorrows  and  sufferings 
vanish  at  the  meeting  not  only  of  real  friends,  but 
of  the  most  distant  acquaintances,  and  substitute 
happiness  in  their  room. 

Soon  after  this,  my  companion  in  captivity,  John 
Stewart,  was  killed  by  the  savages,  and  the  man 
that  came  with  my  brother  returned  home  by  him- 
self. We  were  then  in  a  dangerous,  helpless  sit- 
uation, exposed  daily  to  perils  and  death  among 
savages  and  wild  beasts^— not  a  white  man  in  the 
country  but  ourselves.  ^ 

Thus  situated,  many  hundred  miles  fro|||-our 
families  in  the  howling  wilderness,  I  believe  few 
would  have  equally  enjoyed  the  happiness  we  ex- 
perienced. I  often  observed  to  my  brother,  "  You 
see  now  how  little  nature  requires,  to  be  satisfied. 
Felicity,  the  companion  of  content,  is  rather  found 
in  our  own  breasts  than  in  the  enjoyment  of  ex- 
ternal things  ;  and  I  firmly  believe  it  requires  but 
a  little  philosophy  to  make  a  man  happy  in  what- 
soever state  he  is.  This  consists  in  a  full  resig- 
nation to  the  will  of  Providence ;  and  a  resigned 


148  APPENDIX. 

soul  finds  pleasure  in  a  path  strewed  with  briera 
and  thorns." 

We  continued  not  in  a  state  of  indolence,  but 
hunted  every  day,  and  prepared  a  little  cottage  to 
defend  us  from  the  winter  storms.  We  remained 
there  undisturbed  during  the  winter ;  and  on  the 
1st  day  of  May,  1770,  my  brother  returned  home 
to  the  settlement  by  himself,  for  a  new  recruit  of 
horses  and  ammunition,  leaving  me  by  myself, 
without  bread,  salt,  or  sugar,  without  company  of 
my  fellow-creatures,  or  even  a  horse  or  dog.  I 
confess  I  never  before  was  under  greater  neces- 
sity of  exercising  philosophy  and  fortitude.  A 
few  days  I  passed  uncomfortably.  The  idea  of  a 
beloved  wife  and  family,  and  their  anxiety  upon 
the  account  of  my  absence  and  exposed  situation, 
made  sensible  impressions  on  my  heart.  A  thou- 
sand dreadful  apprehensions  presented  themselves 
to  nM|  view,  and  had  undoubtedly  disposed  me  to 
melancholy,  if  further  indulged. 

One  day  I  undertook  a  tour  through  the  country, 
and  the  diversity  and  beauties  of  nature  I  met 
with  in  this  charming  season,  expelled  every 
gloomy  and  vexatious  thought.  Just  at  the  close 
of  day  the  gentle  gales  retired,  and  left  the  place 
to  the  disposal  of  a  profound  calm.  Not  a  breeze 
shook  the  most  tremulous  leaf.  I  had  gained  the 
summit  of  a  commanding  ridge,  and,  looking  round 
with  astonishing  delight,  beheld  the  ample  plains, 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF    DANIEL    BOONE.       149 

the  beauteous  tracts  below.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  surveyed  the  famous  river  Ohio  that  rolled  in 
silent  dignity,  marking  the  western  boundary  of 
Kentucky  with  inconceivable  grandeur.  At  a  vast 
distance  I  beheld  the  mountains  lift  their  venera- 
ble brows,  and  penetrate  the  clouds.  All  things 
were  still.  I  kindled  a  fire  near  a  fountain  of 
sweet  water,  and  feasted  on  the  loin  of  a  buck, 
which  a  few  hours  before  I  had  killed.  The  sul- 
len shades  of  night  soon  overspread  the  whole 
hemisphere,  and  the  earth  seemed  to  gasp  after 
the  hovering  moisture.  My  roving  excursion  this 
day  had  fatigued  my  body,  and  diverted  my  im- 
agination. I  laid  me  down  to  sleep,  and  I  awoke 
not  until  the  sun  had  chased  away  the  night.  I 
continued  this  tour,  and  in  a  few  days  explored  a 
considerable  part  of  the  country,  each  day  equally 
pleased  as  the  first.  I  returned  again  to  my  old 
camp,  which  was  not  disturbed  in  my  absence 
I  did  not  confine  my  lodging  to  it,  but  often  reposed 
in  thick  canebrakes,  to  avoid  the  savages,  who,  I 
believe,  often  visited  my  camp,  but,  fortunately  for 
me,  in  my  absence.  In  this  situation  I  was  con- 
stantly exposed  to  danger  and  death.  How  un- 
happy such  a  situation  for  a  man  tormented  with 
fear,  which  is  vain  if  no  danger  comes,  and  if  it 
does,  only  augments  the  pain  !  It  was  my  happi- 
ness to  be  destitute  of  this  afl^icting  fission,  with 
which  I  had  the  greatest  reason  to  be  affected. 
13* 


150  APPENDIX. 

The  prowling  wolves  diverted  my  nocturnal  hours 
with  perpetual  howlings  ;  and  the  various  species 
of  animals  in  this  vast  forest,  in  the  daytime,  were 
continually  in  my  view. 

Thus  I  was  surrounded  by  plenty  in  the  midst 
of  want.  1  was  happy  in  the  midst  of  dangers 
and  inconveniences.  In  such  a  diversity,  it  was 
impossible  I  should  be  disposed  to  melancholy. 
No  populous  city,  with  all  the  varieties  of  com- 
merce and  stately  structures,  could  afford  so  much 
pleasure  to  my  mind  as  the  beauties  of  nature  I 
found  here. 

Thus,  through  an  uninterrupted  scene  of  sylvan 
pleasures,  I  spent  the  time  until  the  27th  day  of 
July  following,  when  my  brother,  to  my  great  fe- 
licity, met  me,  according  to  appointment,  at  our 
old  camp.  Shortly  after,  we  left  this  place,  not 
thinking  it  safe  to  stay  there  longer,  and  proceeded 
to  Cumberland  river,  reconnoitring  that  part  of  the 
country  until  March,  1771,  and  giving  names  to 
the  different  waters. 

Soon  after,  I  returned  home  to  my  family,  with 
a  determination  to  bring  them  as  soon  as  possible 
to  live  in  Kentucky,  which  I  esteemed  a  second 
paradise,  at  the  risk  of  my  life  and  fortune. 

I  returned  safe  to  my  old  habitation,  and  found 
my  family  in  happy  circumstances.  I  sold  my 
farm  on  the  Yadkin,  and  what  goods  we  could  not 
carry  with  us  ;  and  on. the  25th  day  of  September, 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF    DANIEL    BOONE.       151 

1773,  bade  a  farewell  to  our  friends,  and  proceed- 
ed on  our  journey  to  Kentucky,  in  company  with 
five  families  more,  and  forty  men  that  joined  us  in 
Powel's  Valley,  which  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  the  now  settled  parts  of  Kentucky. 
This  promising  beginning  was  soon  overcast  with 
a  cloud  of  adversity  ;  for,  upon  the  1 0th  day  of 
October,  the  rear  of  our  company  was  attacked 
by  a  number  of  Indians,  who  killed  six,  and 
wounded  one  man.  Of  these,  my  eldest  son  was 
one  that  fell  in  the  action.  Though  we  defended 
ourselves,  and  repulsed  the  enemy,  yet  this  un- 
happy affair  scattered  our  cattle,  brought  us  into 
extreme  difficulty,  and  so  discouraged  the  whole 
company,  that  we  retreated  forty  miles,  to  the  set- 
tlement on  Clinch  river.  We  had  passed  over 
two  mountains,  viz.,  Powel's  and  Walden's,  and 
were  approaching  Cumberland  mountain  when  this 
adverse  fortune  overtook  us.  These  mountains 
are  in  the  wilderness,  as  we  pass  from  the  old 
settlements  in  Virginia  to  Kentucky,  are  ranged 
in  a  southwest  and  northeast  direction,  are  of  a 
great  length  and  breadth,  and  not  far  distant  from 
each  other.  Over  these,  nature  hath  formed  pas- 
ses that  are  less  difficult  than  might  be  expected, 
from  a  view  of  such  huge  piles.  The  aspect  of 
these  cliffs  is  so  wild  and  horrid,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  behold  them  without  terror.  The  specta- 
tor is  apt  to  imagine  that  nature  had  formerly  suf- 


152  APPENDIX. 

fered  some  violent  convulsion,  and  that  these  are 
the  dismembered  remains  of  the  dreadful  shock : 
the  ruins,  not  of  Persepolis  or  Palmyra,  but  of  the 
world  ! 

I  remained  with  my  family  on  Clinch  until  the 
6th  of  June,  1774,  when  I  and  one  Michael  Stoner 
were  solicited  by  Governor  Dunmore  of  Virginia 
to  go  to  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  to  conduct  into  the 
settlement  a  number  of  surveyors  that  had  been 
sent  thither  by  him  some  months  before  ;  this  coun- 
try having  about  this  time  drawn  the  attention  of 
many  adventurers.  We  immediately  complied 
with  the  Governor's  request,  and  conducted  in  the 
surveyors — completing  a  tour  of  eight  hundred 
miles,  through  many  difficulties,  in  sixty-two 
days. 

Soon  after  I  returned  home,  I  was  ordered  to 
take  the  command  of  three  garrisons  during  the 
campaign  which  Governor  Dunmore  carried  on 
against  the  Shawanese  Indians  ;  after  the  conclu- 
sion of  which,  the  militia  was  discharged  from 
each  garrison,  and  I,  being  relieved  from  my  post, 
was  solicited  by  a  number  of  North  Carolina  gen- 
tlemen, that  were  about  purchasing  the  lands  lying 
on  the  south  side  of  Kentucky  river,  from  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  to  attend  their  treaty  at  Wataga, 
in  March,  1775,  to  negotiate  with  them,  and  men 
tion  the  boundaries  of  the  purchase.  This  I  ac- 
cepted ;   and,  at  the  request  of  the  same  gentle- 


THE    ADVENTURES    OF    DANIEL    BOONE.       153 

men,  undertook  to  mark  out  a  road  m  the  best 
passage  from  the  settlement  through  the  wilder- 
ness to  Kentucky,  with  such  assistance  as  I 
thought  necessary  to  employ  for  such  an  impor- 
tant undertaking. 

I  soon  began  this  work,  having  collected  a  num- 
ber of  enterprising  men,  well  armed.  We  pro- 
ceeded with  all  possible  expedition  until  we  came 
within  fifteen  miles  of  where  Boonesborough  now 
stands,  and  where  we  were  fired  upon  by  a  party 
of  Indians  that  killed  two,  and  wounded  two  of 
our  number  ;  yet,  although  surprised  and  taken  at 
a  disadvantage,  we  stood  our  ground.  This  was 
on  the  20th  of  March,  1775.  Three  days  after, 
we  were  fired  upon  again,  and  had  two  men  killed, 
and  three  wounded.  Afterward  we  proceeded  on 
to  Kentucky  river  without  opposition  ;  and  on  the 
1st  day  of  April  began  to  erect  the  fort  of  Boones- 
borough at  a  salt  lick,  about  sixty  yards  from  the 
river,  on  the  south  side. 

On  the  fourth  day,  the  Indians  killed  one  of  our 
men.  We  were  busily  employed  in  building  this 
fort  until  the  14th  day  of  June  following,  without 
any  further  opposition  from  the  Indians  ;  and  hav- 
ing finished  the  works,  I  returned  to  my  family,  on 
Clinch. 

In  a  short  time  I  proceeded  to  remove  my  family 
from  Clinch  to  this  garrison,  where  we  arrived 
safe,  without  any  other  difficulties  than  such  as 


154  APPENDIX. 

are  common  to  this  passage  ;  my  wife  and  daugh- 
ter being  the  first  white  women  that  ever  stood  on 
the  banks  of  Kentucky  river. 

On  the  24th  day  cf  December  following,  we 
had  one  man  killed,  and  one  wounded,  by  the  In- 
dians, who  seemed  determined  to  persecute  us  for 
erecting  this  fortification. 

On  the  14th  day  of  July,  1776,  two  of  Colonel 
Calaway's  daughters,  and  one  of  mine,  were  taken 
prisoners  near  the  fort.  I  immediately  pursued 
the  Indians  with  only  eight  men,  and  on  the  16th 
overtook  them,  killed  two  of  the  party,  and  recov- 
ered the  girls.  The  same  day  on  which  this  at- 
tempt was  made,  the  Indians  divided  themselves 
into  different  parties,  and  attacked  several  forts, 
which  were  shortly  before  this  time  erected,  doing 
a  great  deal  of  mischief.  This  was  extremely 
distressing  to  the  new  settlers.  The  innocent 
husbandman  was  shot  down,  while  busy  in  culti- 
vating the  soil  for  his  family's  supply.  Most  of 
the  cattle  around  the  stations  were  destroyed. 
They  continued  their  hostilities  in  this  manner 
until  the  15th  of  April,  1777,  when  they  attacked 
Boonesborough  with  a  party  of  above  one  hundred 
in  number,  killed  one  man,  and  wounded  four. 
Their  loss  in  this  attack  was  not  certainly  known 
to  us. 

On  the  4th  day  of  July  following,  a  party  of 
about  two  hundred   Indians  attacked  Boonesbo- 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   155 

rough,  killed  one  man,  and  wounded  two.  They 
besieged  us  forty-eight  hours,  during  which  time 
seven  of  them  were  killed,  and,  at  last,  finding 
themselves  not  likely  to  prevail,  they  raised  the 
siege,  and  departed. 

The  Indians  had  disposed  their  warriors  in  dif- 
ferent parties  at  this  time,  and  attacked  the  dif- 
ferent garrisons,  to  prevent  their  assisting  each 
other,  and  did  much  injury  to  the  distressed  in- 
habitants. 

On  the  19th  day  of  this  month,  Colonel  Logan's 
fort  was  besieged  by  a  party  of  about  two  hundred 
Indians.  During  this  dreadful  siege  they  did  a 
great  deal  of  mischief,  distressed  the  garrison,  in 
which  were  only  fifteen  men,  killed  two,  and 
wounded  one.  The  enemy's  loss  was  uncertain, 
from  the  common  practice  which  the  Indians  have 
of  carrying  off  their  dead  in  time  of  battle. 
Colonel  Harrod's  fort  was  then  defended  by  only 
sixty-five  men,  and  Boonesborough  by  twenty-two, 
there  being  no  more  forts  or  white  men  in  the 
country,  except  at  the  Falls,  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  these  :  and  all,  taken  collectively,  were 
but  a  handful  to  the  numerous  warriors  that  were 
everywhere  dispersed  through  the  country,  intent 
upon  doing  all  the  mischief  that  savage  barbarity 
could  invent.  Thus  we  passed  through  a  scene 
of  sufferings  that  exceeds  description. 

On  the  25th  of  this  month,  a  reinforcement  of 


156  APPENDIX. 

forty-five  men  arrived  from  North  Carolina,  and 
about  the  20th  of  August  following,  Colonel  Bow- 
man arrived  with  one  hundred  men  from  Virginia. 
Now  we  began  to  strengthen ;  and  hence,  for  the 
space  of  six  weeks,  we  had  skirmishes  with 
Indians,  in  one  quarter  or  other,  almost  every- 
day. 

The  savages  now  learned  the  superiority  of  the 
Long  Knife,  as  they  call  the  Virginians,  by  expe- 
rience ;  being  outgeneralled  in  almost  every  battle. 
Our  affairs  began  to  wear  a  new  aspect,  and  the 
enemy,  not  daring  to  venture  on  open  war,  prac- 
tised secret  mischief  at  times. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1778,  I  went  with 
a  party  of  thirty  men  to  the  Blue  Licks,  on  Lick- 
ing river,  to  make  salt  for  the  different  garrisons 
in  the  country. 

On  the  7th  day  of  February,  as  I  was  hunting 
to  procure  meat  for  the  company,  I  met  with  a 
party  of  one  hundred  and  two  Indians,  and  two 
Frenchmen,  on  their  march  against  Boonesborough, 
that  place  being  particularly  the  object  of  the 
enemy. 

They  pursued,  and  took  me  ;  and  brought  me 
on  the  8th  day  to  the  Licks,  where  twenty-scA'-en 
of  my  party  were,  three  of  them  having  previously 
returned  home  with  the  salt.  I,  knowing  it  was 
impossible  for  them  to  escape,  capitulated  with 
the    enemy,  and,  at   a   distance,  in   their  view, 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   157 

gave  notice  to  my  men  of  their  situation,  with 
orders  not  to  resist,  but  surrender  themselves 
captives. 

The  generous  usage  the  Indians  had  promised 
before  in  my  capitulation,  was  afterward  fully 
complied  with,  and  we  proceeded  with  them  as 
prisoners  to  Old  Chilicothe,  the  principal  Indian 
town  on  Little  Miami,  where  we  arrived,  after  an 
uncomfortable  journey  in  very  severe  weather,  on 
the  18th  day  of  February,  and  received  as  good 
treatment  as  prisoners  could  expect  from  savages. 
On  the  10th  day  of  March  following,  I  and  ten  of 
my  men  were  conducted  by  forty  Indians  to  De- 
troit, where  we  arrived  the  30th  day,  and  were 
treated  by  Governor  Hamilton,  the  British  com- 
mander at  that  post,  with  great  humanity. 

During  our  travels,  the  Indians  entertained  me 
well,  and  their  affection  for  me  was  so  great,  that 
they  utterly  refused  to  leave  me  there  with  the 
others,  although  the  Governor  offered  them  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling  for  me,  on  purpose  to  give 
me  a  parole  to  go  home.  Several  English  gen- 
tlemen there,  being  sensible  of  my  adverse  for- 
tune, and  touched  v/ith  human  sympathy,  gener- 
ously offered  a  friendly  supply  for  my  wants, 
which  I  refused,  with  many  thanks  for  their  kind- 
ness— adding,  that  I  never  expected  it  would  be 
in  my  power  to  recompense  such  unmerited  gen- 
erosity. 

14 


158  APPENDIX. 

The  Indians  left  my  men  in  captivity  with  the 
British  at  Detroit,  and  on  the  10th  day  of  April 
brought  me  toward  Old  Chilicothe,  where  we  ar- 
rived on  the  25th  day  of  the  same  month.  Thia 
was  a  long  and  fatiguing  march,  through  an  ex- 
ceeding fertile  country,  remarkable  for  fine  springs 
and  streams  of  water.  At  Chilicothe  I  spent  my 
time  as  comfortably  as  I  could  expect ;  was  adopt- 
ed, according  to  their  custom,  into  a  family,  where 
I  became  a  son,  and  had  a  great  share  in  the  af- 
fection of  my  new  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  and 
friends.  I  was  exceedingly  familiar  and  friendly 
with  them,  always  appearing  as  cheerful  and  sat- 
isfied as  possible,  and  they  put  great  confidence  in 
me.  I  often  went  a  hunting  with  them,  and  fre- 
quently gained  their  applause  for  my  activity  at 
our  shooting-matches.  I  was  careful  not  to  ex- 
ceed many  of  them  in  shooting  ;  for  no  people  are 
more  envious  than  they  in  this  sport.  I  could 
observe,  in  their  countenances  and  gestures,  the 
greatest  expressions  of  joy  when  they  exceeded 
me ;  and,  when  the  reverse  happened,  of  envy. 
The  Shawanese  king  took  gre?.t  notice  of  me,  and 
treated  me  with  profound  respect  and  entire  friend- 
ship, often  intrusting  me  to  hunt  at  my  liberty.  I 
frequently  returned  with  the  spoils  of  the  woods, 
and  as  oft  on  presented  some  of  what  I  had  taken 
to  him,  expressive  of  duty  to  my  sovereign.  My 
food  and  lodging  were  in  common  with  them ;  not 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   159 

SO  good,  indeed,  as  I  could  desire,  but  necessity 
made  everything  acceptable. 

I  now  began  to  meditate  an  escape,  and  care- 
fully avoided  their  suspicions,  continuing  with 
them  at  Old  Chilicothe  until  the  1st  day  of  June 
following,  and  then  was  taken  by  them  to  the  salt 
springs  on  Scioto,  and  kept  there  making  salt  ten 
days.  During  this  time  I  hunted  some  for  them, 
and  found  the  land,  for  a  great  extent  about  this 
river,  to  exceed  the  soil  of  Kentucky,  if  possible, 
and  remarkably  well  watered. 

When  I  returned  to  Chilicothe,  alarmed  to  see 
four  hundred  and  fifty  Indians,  of  their  choicest 
warriors,  painted  and  armed  in  a  fearful  manner, 
ready  to  march  against  Bounesborough,  I  deter- 
mined to  escape  the  first  opportunity. 

On  the  16th,  before  sunrise,  I  departed  in  the 
most  secret  manner,  and  arrived  at  Boonesbo- 
rough  on  the  20th,  after  a  journey  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  miles,  during  which  I  had  but  one 
meal. 

I  found  our  fortress  in  a  bad  state  of  defence  ; 
but  we  proceeded  immediately  to  repair  our  flanks, 
strengthen  our  gates  and  posterns,  and  form  double 
bastions,  which  we  completed  in  ten  days.  In 
this  time  we  daily  expected  the  arrival  of  the  In- 
dian army ;  and  at  length,  one  of  my  fellow-pris- 
oners, escaping  from  them,  arrived,  informing  us 
that  the  enemy  had,  on  account  of  my  departure, 


160  APPENDIX. 

postponed  their  expedition  ;hree  weeks.  The 
Indians  had  spies  out  viewing  our  movements,  and 
were  greatly  alarmed  with  our  increase  in  num- 
ber and  fortifications.  The  grand  councils  of  the 
nations  were  held  frequently,  and  with  more  de 
liberation  than  usual.  They  evidently  saw  the 
approaching  hour  when  the  Long  Knife  would 
dispossess  them  of  their  desirable  habitations ; 
and,  anxiously  concerned  for  futurity,  determined 
utterly  to  extirpate  the  whites  out  of  Kentucky. 
We  were  not  intimidated  by  thijir  movements,  but 
frequently  gave  them  proofs  of  our  courage. 

About  the  first  of  August,  I  made  an  incursion 
into  the  Indian  country  with  a  party  of  nineteen 
men,  in  order  to  surprise  a  small  town  up  Scioto, 
called  Paint  Creek  Town.  We  advanced  within 
four  miles  thereof,  where  we  met  a  parly  of  thirty 
Indians  on  their  march  against  Boonesborough, 
intending  to  join  the  others  from  Chilicothe.  A 
smart  fight  ensued  between  us  for  some  time  ;  at 
length  the  savages  gave  way  and  fled.  We  had 
no  loss  on  our  side  ;  the  enemy  had  one  killed, 
and  two  wounded.  We  took  from  them  three 
horses,  and  all  their  baggage  ;  and  being  informed, 
by  two  of  our  number  that  went  to  their  town,  that 
the  Indians  had  entirely  evacuated  it,  we  proceed- 
ed no  further,  and  returned  with  all  possible  expe- 
dition to  assist  our  garrison  against  the  other 
party.     We  passed  by  them   on  the    sixth  day, 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DAXIEL  BOONE.   161 

and  on  the  seventh  we  arrived  safe  at  Boonesbo- 
rough. 

On  the  8th,  the  Indian  army  arrived,  being  four 
hundred  and  forty-four  in  number,  commanded  by 
Captain  Duquesne,  eleven  other  Frenchmen,  and 
some  of  their  own  chiefs,  and  marched  up  within 
view  of  our  fort,  with  British  and  French  colors 
flying  ;  and  having  sent  a  summons  to  me,  in 
his  Britannic  Majesty's  name,  to  surrender  the 
fort,  I  requested  two  days'  consideration,  which 
was  granted. 

It  was  now  a  critical  period  with  us.  We  were 
a  small  number  in  the  garrison — a  powerful  army 
before  our  walls,  whose  appearance  proclaimed 
inevitable  death,  fearfully  painted,  and  marking 
their  footsteps  with  desolation.  Death  was  prefer- 
able to  captivity ;  and  if  taken  by  storm,  we  must 
inevitably  be  devoted  to  destruction.  In  this  situ- 
ation we  concluded  to  maintain  our  garrison,  if 
possible.  We  immediately  proceeded  to  collect 
what  we  could  of  our  horses  and  other  cattle,  and 
bring  them  through  the  posterns  into  the  fort ;  and 
in  the  evening  of  the  9th,  I  returned  answer  that 
we  Avere  determined  to  defend  our  fort  while  a 
man  was  living.  "  Now,"  said  I  to  their  com- 
mander, who  stood  attentively  hearing  my  senti- 
ments, "  we  laugh  at  your  formidable  preparations  ; 
but  thank  you  for  giving  us  notice  and  time  to 
provide  for  our  defence.  Your  efforts  will  not 
14* 


162  APPENDIX. 

prevail  ;  for  our  gates  shall  for  ever  deny  you  ad- 
mittance." Whether  this  answer  affected  their 
courage  or  not  I  can  not  tell ;  but,  contrary  to  our 
expectations,  they  formed  a  scheme  to  deceive  us, 
declaring  it  was  their  orders,  from  Governor  Ham- 
ilton, to  take  us  captives,  and  not  to  destroy  us  ; 
but  if  nine  of  us  would  come  out,  and  treat  with 
them,  they  would  immediately  withdraw  their 
forces  from  our  walls,  and  return  home  peaceably. 
This  sounded  grateful  in  our  ears  ;  and  we  agreed 
to  the  proposal. 

We  held  the  treaty  within  sixty  yards  of  the 
garrison,  on  purpose  to  divert  them  from  a  breach 
of  honor,  as  we  could  not  avoid  suspicions  of  the 
savages.  In  this  situation  the  articles  were  for- 
mally agreed  to,  and  signed ;  and  the  Indians  told 
us  it  was  customary  with  them  on  such  occasions 
for  two  Indians  to  shake  hands  with  every  white 
man  in  the  treaty,  as  an  evidence  of  entire  friend- 
ship. We  agreed  to  this  also,  but  were  soon  con- 
vinced their  policy  was  to  take  us  prisoners. 
They  immediately  grappled  us  ;  but,  although  sur- 
rounded by  hundreds  of  savages,  we  extricated 
ourselves  from  them,  and  escaped  all  safe  into  the 
garrison,  except  one  that  was  w^ounded,  through  a 
heavy  fire  from  their  army.  They  immediately 
attacked  us  on  every  side,  and  a  constant  heavy 
fire  ensued  between  us,  day  and  night,  for  the 
space  of  nine  days. 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE>   163 

In  this  time  the  enemy  began  to  undermine  our 
fort,  which  was  situated  sixty  yards  from  Ken- 
tucky river.  They  began  at  the  water-mark,  and 
proceeded  in  the  bank  some  distance,  which  we 
understood,  by  their  making  the  water  muddy  with 
the  clay  ;  and  we  immediately  proceeded  to  dis- 
appoint their  design,  by  cutting  a  trench  across 
their  subterranean  passage.  The  enemy,  discov- 
ering our  counter-mine,  by  the  clay  we  threw  out 
of  the  fort,  desisted  from  that  stratagem  :  and  ex- 
perience now  fully  convincing  them  that  neither 
their  power  nor  poUcy  could  effect  their  purpose, 
on  the  20th  day  of  August  they  raised  the  siege 
and  departed. 

During  this  siege,  which  threatened  death  in 
every  form,  we  had  two  men  killed,  and  four  wound- 
ed, besides  a  number  of  cattle.  We  killed  of  the 
enemy  thirty-seven,  and  wounded  a  great  number. 
After  they  were  gone,  we  picked  up  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pounds  weight  of  bullets,  besides 
what  stuck  in  the  logs  of  our  fort,  which  certainly 
is  a  great  proof  of  their  industry.  Soon  after  this, 
I  went  into  the  settlement,  and  nothing  worthy  of 
a  place  in  this  account  passed  in  my  affairs  for 
some  time. 

During  my  absence  from  Kentucky,  Colonel 
Bowman  carried  on  an  expedition  against  the 
Shawanese,  at  Old  Chilicothe,  with  one  hundred 
and  sixty  men,  in  July,  1779.     Here  they  arrived 


164  APPENDIX. 

undiscovered,  and  a  battle  ensued,  which  lasted 
until  ten  o'clock,  A.  I\I.,  when  Colonel  Bowman, 
finding  he  could  not  succeed  at  this  time,  retreat- 
ed about  thirty  miles.  The  Indians,  in  the  mean 
time,  collecting  all  their  forces,  pursued  and  ovei- 
took  him,  when  a  smart  fight  continued  near  two 
hours,  not  to  the  advantage  of  Colonel  Bowman's 
party. 

Colonel  Harrod  proposed  to  mount  a  number 
of  horse,  and  furiously  to  rush  upon  the  savages, 
who  at  this  time  fought  with  remarkable  fury. 
This  desperate  step  had  a  happy  effect,  broke 
their  line  of  battle,  and  the  savages  fled  on  all 
sides.  In  these  two  battles  we  had  nine  killed, 
and  one  wounded.  The  enemy's  loss  uncertain, 
only  two  scalps  being  taken. 

On  the  22d  day  of  June,  1780,  a  large  party  of 
Indians  and  Canadians,  about  six  hundred  in  num- 
ber, commanded  by  Colonel  Bird,  attacked  Rid- 
dle's and  IMartin's  stations,  at  the  forks  of  Licking 
river,  with  six  pieces  of  artillery.  They  carried 
this  expedition  so  secretly,  that  the  unwary  inhab- 
itants did  not  discover  them  until  they  fired  upon 
the  forts  ;  and,  not  being  prepared  to  oppose  them, 
were  obliged  to  surrender  themselves  miserable 
captives  to  barbarous  savages,  who  immediately 
after  tomahawked  one  man  and  two  women,  and 
loaded  all  the  others  with  heavy  baggage,  forcing 
vhem  along  toward  their  towns,  able  or  unable  to 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   165 

inarch.  Such  as  were  weak  and  faint  by  the  way, 
they  tomahawked.  The  tender  women  and  help- 
less children  fell  victims  to  their  cruelty.  This, 
and  the  savage  treatment  they  received  afterward, 
is  shocking  to  humanity,  and  too  barbarous  to 
relate. 

The  hostile  disposition  of  the  savages  and  theii 
allies  caused  General  Clarke,  the  commandant  at 
the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  immediately  to  begin  an  ex- 
pedition with  his  own  regiment,  and  the  armed 
force  of  the  country,  against  Pecaway,  the  princi- 
pal town  of  the  Shawanese,  on  a  branch  of  Great 
Miami,  which  he  finished  with  great  success,  took 
seventeen  scalps,  and  burnt  the  town  to  ashes, 
with  the  loss  of  seventeen  men. 

About  this  time  I  returned  to  Kentucky  with 
my  family ;  and  here,  to  avoid  an  inquiry  into  my 
conduct,  the  reader  being  before  informed  of  my 
bringing  my  family  to  Kentucky,  I  am  under  the 
necessity  of  informing  him  that,  during  my  cap- 
tivity with  the  Indians,  my  wife,  who  despaired 
of  ever  seeing  me  again — expecting  the  Indians 
had  put  a  period  to  my  life,  oppressed  with  the 
distresses  of  the  country,  and  bereaved  of  me,  her 
only  happiness — had,  before  I  returned,  transport- 
ed my  family  and  goods,  on  horses,  through  the 
wilderness,  amid  a  multitude  of  dangers,  to  her 
father's  house  in  North  Carolina. 

Shortly  after  the  troubles  at  Boonesborough,  I 


166  APPENDIX. 

went  to  them,  and  lived  peaceably  there  until  this 
time.  The  history  of  my  going  home,  and  return- 
ing with  my  family,  forms  a  series  of  difficulties, 
an  account  of  which  would  swell  a  volume  ;  and, 
being  foreig;n  to  my  purpose,  I  shall  purposely 
omit  them. 

I  settled  my  family  in  Boonesborough  once 
more ;  and  shortly  after,  on  the  6th  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1780,  I  went  in  company  with  my  brother  to 
the  Blue  Licks  ;  and,  on  our  return  home,  we  were 
fired  upon  by  a  party  of  Indians.  They  shot  him, 
and  pursued  me,  by  the  scent  of  their  dog,  three 
miles  ;  but  I  killed  the  dog,  and  escaped.  The 
winter  soon  came  on,  and  was  very  severe,  which 
confined  the  Indians  to  their  wigwams. 

The  severity  of  this  winter  caused  great  diffi- 
culties in  Kentucky.  The  enemy  had  destroyed 
most  of  the  corn  the  summer  before.  This  neces- 
sary article  was  scarce  and  dear,  and  the  inhab- 
itants lived  chiefly  on  the  flesh  of  bufi'alo.  The 
circumstances  of  many  were  very  lamentable  : 
however,  being  a  hardy  race  of  people,  and  accus- 
tomed to  difficulties  and  necessities,  they  were 
wonderfully  supported  through  all  their  sufferings, 
until  the  ensuing  autumn,  when  we  received 
abundance  from  the  fertile  soil. 

Toward  spring  we  were  frequently  harassed  by 
Indians;  and  in  May,  1782,  a  party  assaulted 
Ashton's    station,    killed    one    man,    and    took   a 


THE    ADVENTURKS    OF    DANIEL    BOONE. 


167 


negro  prisoner.  Captain  Ashton,  with  twenty- 
five  men,  pursued  and  overtook  the  savages,  and 
a  smart  fight  ensued,  which  lasted  two  hours  ;  but 
they,  being  superior  in  number,  obliged  Captain 
Ashton's  party  to  retreat,  with  the  loss  of  eight 
killed,  and  four  mortally  wounded  ;  their  brave 
commander  himself  being  numbered  among  the 

dead. 

The  Indians  continued  their  hostilities  ;  and, 
about  the  10th  of  August  following,  two  boys  were 
taken  from  Major  Hoy's  station.  This  party  was 
pursued  by  Captain  Holder  and  seventeen  men, 
who  were  also  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  four  men 
killed,  and  one  wounded.  Our  affairs  became 
more  and  more  alarming.  Several  stations  which 
had  lately  been  erected  in  the  country  were  con- 
tinually infested  with  savages,  stealing  their  horses 
and  killing  the  men  at  every  opportunity.  In  a 
field,  near  Lexington,  an  Indian  shot  a  man,  and 
running  to  scalp  him,  was  himself  shot  from  the 
fort,  and  fell  dead  upon  his  enemy. 

Every  day  we  experienced  recent  mischiefs. 
The  barbarous  savage  nations  of  Shawanese,  Cher- 
okees,  Wyandots,  Tawas,  Delawares,  and  several 
others  near  Detroit,  united  in  a  war  against  us, 
and  assembled  their  choicest  warriors  at  Old 
Chilicothe,  to  go  on  the  expedition,  in  order  to 
destroy  us,  and  entirely  depopulate  the  country. 
Their  savage  minds  were  inflamed  to  mischief  by 


168  APPENDIX. 

two  abandoned  men,  Captains  M'Kee  and  Girty. 
These  led  them  to  execute  every  diabolical  scheme, 
and  on  the  loth  day  of  August,  commanded  a  parly 
of  Indians  and  Canadians,  of  about  five  hundred  in 
number,  against  Bryant's  station,  five  miles  from 
Lexington.  Without  demanding  a  surrender,  they 
furiously  assaulted  the  garrison,  which  was  hap- 
pily prepared  to  oppose  them  ;  and,  after  they  had 
expended  much  ammunition  in  vain,  and  killed  the 
cattle  round  the  fort,  not  being  likely  to  make 
themselves  masters  of  this  place,  they  raised  the 
siege,  and  departed  in  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  after  they  came,  with  the  loss  of  about  thirty 
killed,  and  the  number  of  wounded  uncertain. 
Of  the  garrison,  four  were  killed,  and  three 
wounded. 

On  the  18th  day,  Colonel  Todd,  Colonel  Trigg, 
Major  Harland,  and  myself,  speedily  collected 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six  men,  well  armed, 
and  pursued  the  savages.  They  had  marched 
beyond  the  Blue  Licks,  to  a  remarkable  bend  of 
the  main  fork  of  Licking  river,  about  forty-three 
miles  from  Lexington,  where  we  overtook  them 
on  the  19th  day.  The  savages  observing  us,  gave 
way ;  and  we,  being  ignorant  of  their  numbers, 
passed  the  river.  When  the  enemy  saw  our  pro- 
ceedings, having  greatly  the  advantage  of  us  in 
situation,  they  formed  the  line  of  battle,  from  one 
bend  of  Licking  to  the  other,  about  a  mile  from 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   169 

the  Blue  Licks.  An  exceeding  fierce  battle  im- 
mediately began,  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  when 
we,  being  overpowered  by  numbers,  were  obliged 
to  retreat,  with  the  loss  of  sixty-seven  men,  seven 
of  whom  were  taken  prisoners.  The  brave  and 
much-lamented  Colonels  Todd  and  Trigg,  Major 
Harland,  and  my  second  son,  were  among  the 
dead.  We  were  informed  that  the  Indians,  num- 
bering their  dead,  found  they  had  four  killed 
more  than  we  ;  and  therefore  four  of  the  pris- 
oners they  had  taken  were,  by  general  consent, 
ordered  to  be  killed  in  a  most  barbarous  manner 
by  the  young  warriors,  in  order  to  train  them 
up  to  cruelty  ;  and  then  they  proceeded  to  their 
towns. 

On  our  retreat  we  were  met  by  Colonel  Logan, 
hastening  to  join  us,  v^^ith  a  number  of  well-armed 
men.  This  powerful  assistance  we  unfortunately 
wanted  in  the  battle  ;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
enemy's  superiority  of  numbers,  they  acknowl- 
edged, that,  if  they  had  received  one  more  fire 
from  us,  they  should  undoubtedly  have  given  way. 
So  valiantly  did  our  small  party  fight,  that,  to  the 
memory  of  those  who  unfortunately  fell  in  the 
battle,  enough  of  honor  can  not  be  paid.  Had 
Colonel  Logan  and  his  party  been  with  us,  it  is 
highly  probable  we  should  have  given  the  savages 
a  total  defeat. 

I  can  not  reflect  upon  this  dreadful  scene,  but 
15 


170  APPENDIX. 

sorrow  fills  my  heart.  A  zeal  for  the  defence  of 
their  country  led  these  heroes  to  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion, though  with  a  few  men  to  attack  a  powerful 
army  of  experienced  warriors.  When  we  gave 
way,  they  pursued  us  with  the  utmost  eagerness, 
and  in  every  quarter  spread  destruction.  The 
river  was  difficult  to  cross,  and  many  were  killed 
in  the  flight — some  just  entering  the  river,  some 
in  the  water,  others  after  crossing,  in  ascending 
the  cliffs.  Some  escaped  on  horseback,  a  few  on 
foot ;  and,  being  dispersed  everywhere  in  a  few 
hours,  brought  the  melancholy  news  of  this  un- 
fortunate battle  to  Lexington.  Many  widows  were 
now  made.  The  reader  may  guess  what  sorrow 
filled  the  hearts  of  the  inhabitants,  exceeding 
anything  that  I  am  able  to  describe.  Being  rein- 
forced, we  returned  to  bury  the  dead,  and  found 
their  bodies  strewed  everywhere,  cut  and  man- 
gled in  a  dreadful  manner.  This  mournful  scene 
exhibited  a  horror  almost  unparalleled :  some 
torn  and  eaten  by  wild  beasts  ;  those  in  the 
river  eaten  by  fishes  ;  all  in  such  a  putrefied  con- 
diti(m,  that  no  one  could  be  distinguished  from 
another. 

As  soon  as  General  Clarke,  then  at  the  Falls 
of  the  Ohio — who  was  ever  our  ready  friend,  and 
merits  tlie  love  and  gratitude  of  all  his  country- 
men— understood  the  circumstances  of  this  unfor- 
tunate action,  he  ordered  an  expedition,  with  all 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DANIEL  BOONE.   171 

possible  haste,  to  pursue  the  savages,  which  was 
so  expeditiously  effected,  that  we  overtook  them 
within  two  miles  of  their  towns  :  and  probably 
might  have  obtained  a  great  victory,  had  not  two 
of  their  number  met  us  about  two  hundred  poles 
before  we  came  up.  These  returned  quick  as 
lightning  to  their  camp,  with  the  alarming  news 
of  a  mighty  army  in  view.  The  savages  fled  in 
the  utmost  disorder,  evacuated  their  towns,  and 
reluctantly  left  their  territory  to  our  mercy.  We 
immediately  took  possession  of  Old  Chilicothe 
without  opposition,  being  deserted  by  its  inhabit- 
ants. We  continued  our  pursuit  through  five 
towns  on  the  Miami  rivers,  Old  Chilicothe,  Peca- 
way,  New  Chilicothe,  Will's  Towns,  and  Chili- 
cothe— burnt  them  all  to  ashes,  entirely  destroyed 
their  corn,  and  other  fruits,  and  everywhere 
spread  a  scene  of  desolation  in  the  country.  In 
this  expedition  we  took  seven  prisoners  and 
five  scalps,  with  the  loss  of  only  four  men,  two 
of  whom  were  accidentally  killed  by  our  own 
army. 

This  campaign  in  some  measure  damped  the 
spirits  of  the  Indians,  and  made  them  sensible  of 
our  superiority.  Their  connexions  were  dissolved, 
their  armies  scattered,  and  a  future  invasion  put 
entirely  out  of  their  power  ;  yet  they  continued  to 
practise  mischief  secretly  upon  the  inhabitants,  in 
the  exposed  parts  of  the  country. 


172  APPENDIX. 

In  October  following,  a  party  made  an  excur- 
sion into  that  district  called  the  Crab  Orchard  ; 
and  one  of  them,  being  advanced  some  distance 
before  the  others,  boldly  entered  the  house  of  a 
poor  defenceless  family,  in  which  was  only  a 
negro  man,  a  woman,  and  her  children,  terrified 
with  the  apprehensions  of  immediate  death.  The 
savage,  perceiving  their  defenceless  situation, 
without  offering  violence  to  the  family,  attempted 
to  capture  the  negro,  who  happily  proved  an 
overmatch  for  him,  threw  him  on  the  ground,  and, 
in  the  struggle,  the  mother  of  the  children  drew 
an  axe  from  a  corner  of  the  cottage,  and  cut  his 
head  off,  while  her  little  daughter  shut  the  door. 
The  savages  instantly  appeared,  and  applied  their 
tomahawks  to  the  door.  An  old  rusty  gun-barrel, 
without  a  lock,  lay  in  a  corner,  which  the  mother 
put  through  a  small  crevice,  and  the  savages,  per- 
ceiving it,  fled.  In  the  mean  time,  the  alarm 
spread  through  the  neighborhood  ;  the  armed  men 
collected  immediately,  and  pursued  the  ravagers 
into  the  wilderness.  Thus  Providence,  by  the 
means  of  this  negro,  saved  the  whole  of  the  poor 
family  from  destruction.  From  that  time  until  the 
happy  return  of  peace  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  the  Indians  did  us  no  mischief. 
Finding  the  great  king  beyond  the  w^ater  disap- 
pointed in  his  expectations,  and  conscious  of  the 
importance   of  the    Long  Knife,  and   their  own 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  DAXIEL  BOONE.   173 

wretchedness,  some  of  the  nations  immediately  de- 
sired  peace  ;   to  which,  at  present  [1784],  they 
seem  universally  disposed,  and  are  sending  am- 
bassadors to  General  Clarke,  at  the  Falls  of  the  ' 
Ohio,  with  the  minutes  of  their  councils. 

To  conclude,  I  can  now  say  that  I  have  verified 
the  saying  of  an  old  Indian  who  signed  Colonel 
Henderson's  deed.  Taking  me  by  the  hand,  at 
the  delivery  thereof — "  Brother,"  said  he,  "  we 
have  given  you  a  fine  land,  but  I  believe  you  will 
haA^  much  trouble  in  settling  it."  My  footsteps 
have  often  been  marked  with  blood,  and  therefore 
I  can  truly  subscribe  to  its  original  name.  Two 
darling  sons  and  a  brother  have  I  lost  by  savage 
hands,  which  have  also  taken  from  me  forty  valu- 
able horses,  and  abundance  of  cattle.  Many  dark 
and  sleepless  nights  have  I  been  a  companion  for 
owls,  separated  from  the  cheerful  society  of  men, 
scorched  by  the  summer's  sun,  and  pinched  by 
the  winter's  cold — an  instrument  ordained  to  settle 
the  wilderness.  But  now  the  scene  is  changed  : 
peace  crowns  the  sylvan  shade. 

What  thanks,  what  ardent  and  ceaseless  thanks 
are  due  to  that  all-superintending  Providence  which 
has  turned  a  cruel  war  into  peace,  brought  order 
out  of  confusion,  made  the  fierce  savages  placid, 
and  turned  away  their  hostile  weapons  from  our 
country  !  May  the  same  Almighty  Goodness  ban- 
ish the  accursed  monster,  war,  from  all  lands,  with 


174  APPENDIX. 

her  hated  associates,  rapine  and  insatiable  ambi- 
tion !  Let  peace,  descending  from  her  native 
heaven,  bid  her  ohves  spring  amid  the  joyful  na- 
'tions  ;  and  plenty,  in  league  with  commerce,  scatter 
blessings  from  her  copious  hand  ! 

This  account  of  my  adventures  will  inform  the 
reader  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  this  coun- 
try. I  now  live  in  peace  and  safety,  enjoying  the 
sweets  of  liberty,  and  the  bounties  of  Providence, 
with  my  once  fellow-sufferers,  in  this  delightful 
country,  which  I  have  seen  purchased  with  a  vast 
expense  of  blood  and  treasure  :  delighting  in  the 
prospect  of  its  being,  in  a  short  time,  one  of  the 
most  opulent  and  powerful  states  on  the  continent 
of  North  America  ;  which,  with  the  love  and  grati- 
tude of  my  countrymen,  I  esteem  a  sufficient  reward 
for  all  my  toil  and  dangers. 

DANIEL  BOONE. 
Fayette  County,  Kentucky. 


THE    END. 


J  {)ny  .s  y\  \'v  ii  . 


.\,)|.l>Hoii.,<r  (••:   N'.nr  V..rk 


CHAPTER  I.  f 

The  birth  of  John  Smith — His  boyish  restlessness 
— His  early  adventures  and  wanderings  — 
His  return  home — His  wanderings  resumed — 
^fter  strange  adventures^  he  enlists  as  a  soldier 
against  the  Turks — His  brilliant  exploits  as  a 
soldier — He  is  taken  captive  at  last  and  sold  as 
a  slave  to  the  Bashaw  Bogal — He  sends  him  to 
Constantinople. 

In  the  life  of  Henry  Hudson*  Captain  John 
Smith  is  spoken  of  as  his  "  earliest  and  most 
cherished  companion."  Of  all  the  remarkable 
men,  who  visited  this  new  world  for  the  purpose 
of  planting  colonies,  and  subduing  the  wilder- 
ness, there  was  none  more  remarkable  than  John 
Smith.  His  life  was  a  perfect  romance,  filled 
with  wild  and  roving  adventures ;  and  I  think 
my  young  countrymen  will  be  both  instructed 
and  pleased  by  reading  his  history.  Here,  there- 
fore, it  is. 
*  See  volume  I.  of  A  Library  for  my  Young  Countrymen, 

2 


14  JOHN   SMITH. 

Unfortunately,  we  knew  but  little  of  the  early 
days  of  Hudson ;  but  Smith  we  can  follow  from 
his  boyhood  up.  He  was  born  in  Willoughby, 
in  the  county  of  Lincolnshire,  in  England,  of 
respectable  parents,  in  the  year  1579,  and,  from 
the  earliest  boyhood,  began  to  shew  his  restless, 
roving  disposition.  He  was  sent  to  school,  a 
very  young  lad,  and  soon  distinguished  himself 
among  his  school-fellows  for  his  bold,  manly, 
and  adventurous  sports.  But  books  and  schoolboy 
confinement  did  not  please  him.  Scarcely  yet 
thirteen  years  old,  he  sold  his  satchel,  books, 
and  whatever  other  articles  he  could  part  with, 
to  raise  money,  that  he  might  go  to  sea.  All 
this  was  unknown,  at  the  time,  to  his  friends, 
and  he  would  probably  have  succeeded  in  get- 
ting away,  had  not  the  death  of  his  father  oc- 
curred at  the  time,  and  thereby  prevented  it. 
Now  he  was  left  in  the  hands  of  guardians.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  they  placed  him  as  an  ap- 
prentice to  a  merchant  at  Lynn,  hoping  that  this 
might  suit  his  turn  of  mind,  and  prove  both 
profitable  and  pleasant  to  him.  Smith  seems  at 
first  to  have  liked  this,  for  his  thoughts  were 
still  upon  the  ocean,  and  he  hoped  from  time  to 
time  that  his  master  would  send  him  to  sea  in 
his  ser\ice.    But  at  last,  disappointed  in  this,  the 


JOHN  SMITH.  15 

I 

counting-house  became  wearisome  to  him,  and 
he  resolved  to  leave.  With  only  ten  shillings 
in  his  pocket,  therefore,  which  he  says  was 
given  to  him  by  his  friends  "  to  get  rid  of  him," 
he  left  his  employer.  It  was  not  long  before 
young  Smith  began  to  fear  he  had  made  a  sad 
mistake.  Afraid  to  report  himself  to  his  guard- 
ians, and  fearful  that,  if  he  remained  in  England, 
they  would  find  him,  and  put  him  to  some  other 
employment,  it  is  said,  he  wandered  about  in 
his  poverty,  scarcely  knowing  what  to  do ;  his 
heart  resolved  only  upon  this  one  thing,  to  start 
abroad  as  soon  as  he  could.  He  was  a  boy  of 
too  much  principle  to  steal,  and  yet  he  was  too 
poor  to  carry  out  his  wishes.  The  story  runs, 
that  in  this  sad  state  of  mind,  after  wandering 
another  weary  day,  he  was  fortunate  enough,  in 
stopping  at  a  pubUc-house,  to  meet  with  a  noble- 
man who  was  about  embarking  for  France,  and 
Smith  was  made  happy,  when  he  was  allowed 
to  enter  his  train,  and  go  along  with  him.  They 
journeyed  on  together  now,  until  they  reached  Or- 
leans, in  France,  but  here,  from  some  cause,  they 
parted.  Whether  the  nobleman  (as  has  been 
said)  found  Smith  wild  and  ungovernable,  or 
whether  it  was  that  he  no  longer  had  need  of 
his  services,  here  he  dismissed  him.     Yet  he 


16  JOHN   SMITH. 

treated  him  with  great  generosity,  foj  he  gave 
him  money,  that  he  might  return  to  England, 
and  hve  among  his  friends. 

Yet  Smith  had  no  thought  of  returning  home, 
and  now  it  was  that  his  travels  fairly  com- 
menced. He  first  went  to  Paris,  and  after 
spending  a  httle  time  there,  he  started  for  Hol- 
land. There  was  in  him  always  a  love  of 
military  life,  a  sort  of  military  ardor;  and 
I  have  supposed  that  he  moved  toward  the 
"Low  Countries,"  because,  at  that  time,  this 
was  the  battle-ground  of  Europe.  A  struggle 
was  then  going  on  between  this  country  and 
Spain.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  had  scarcely  reach- 
ed the  country,  when  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier;  and 
now,  for  some  time,  he  served  in  the  army, 
greatly  delighted  with  his  new  occupation.  His 
restless  spirit,  however,  grew  weary  at  last,  even 
of  this.  Meeting  with  a  Scotch  gentleman,  (Mr. 
David  Hume,)  he  was  supplied  by  him  with 
money,  and  letters  to  his  friends  in  Scotland, 
and  advised  to  go  with  him  to  that  country. 
The  principal  inducement  for  his  going  was,  (as 
his  Scotch  friend  assured  him,)  that  he  would 
there  find  friendship  and  favor  at  the  hands  of 
King  James.  Now,  then,  he  embarked  for  Scot- 
land.    After  suffering  frr^m  shipwreck,  and  a 


JOHN   SMITH  17 

violent  fit  of  sickness,  he  at  length  arrived  there, 
and  delivered  his  letters.  These  letters  procured 
for  him  kind  attention,  and  he  was  treated  with 
great  hospitality — though  as  far  as  the  king 
was  concerned,  he  met  with  little  patronage  and 
encouragement.  His  heart,  therefore,  began  to 
turn  homeward,  and  he  soon  started  off  for  his 
native  town,  Willoughby. 

Upon  his  arrival,  his  friends  were  all  delighted 
to  see  him,  and  were  greatly  pleased  to  hear  him 
i-ecount  his  travels.  But  this  being  over,  he  soon 
tired  of  the  companions  around  him :  and  now 
he  went  to  the  woods  and  built  him  a  httle 
booth,  where  he  might  hve  alone  to  himself. 
Here  he  became  very  industrious  in  pursuing 
his  studies.  His  fondness  for  a  soldier's  hfe 
set  him  upon  the  study  of  military  history  and 
tactics ;  and  from  time  to  time  he  would  amuse 
himself  with  sports  of  hunting  and  horseman- 
ship. His  books,  his  horse,  and  his  lance  were 
almost  the  only  objects  that  interested  him.  Af- 
ter a  time,  it  became  generally  known  that 
he  was  living  in  this  quiet  way  :  his  strange 
habits  were  much  talked  of,  and  this  induced  an 
Italian  gentleman,  who  was  himself  a  great 
horseman,  to  visit  him.  He  soon  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Smith,  (for  their  tastes  were  alike,) 
2* 


18  JOHN    SMITH. 

and  at  length  persuaded  him  to  leave  his  retire- 
ment, and  come  back  into  the  world.  His  little 
lodge,  therefore,  was  now  deserted. 

His  restless  spirit  soon  prompted  him  again 
to  roam.  He  now  had  the  means  of  travelling, 
(for  he  had  received  his  portion  of  his  father's 
estate,)  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  and 
entreaties  of  his  friends,  he  resolved  upon  start- 
ing pnce  more.  Again  led,  I  suppose,  by  his  mili- 
tary ardor,  he  embarked  for  Flanders,  hoping  to 
play  the  part  of  a  soldier  against  the  Turks.  But 
here  his  plans  were  altered.  Accidentally  meet- 
ing with  four  Frenchmen,  (one  of  whom  passed 
for  a  nobleman,  and  the  other  three  for  his  attend- 
ants,) he  was  persuaded  to  join  them,  and  travel 
with  them  into  France.  These  men  were  vil- 
lains, who  noticing  the  youth  and  inexperience 
of  Smith,  (for  he  was  now  only  nineteen,  some 
say  seventeen,  years  of  age,)  had  resolved  upon 
robbing  him.  They  all  accordingly  embarked  for 
France.  It  was  a  dark  night  -when  they  arrived 
at  St.  Valery,  in  Picardy ;  and  now  these  im- 
postors had  made  so  much  of  a  friend  of  their 
captain,  who  w^as  a  villain  like  themselves,  that 
they  were  prepared  to  carry  their  plan  into  ex- 
ecution. Accordingly,  these  four  Frenchmen, 
with  the  captain  at  their  head,  now  went  ashore 


JOHN   SMITE.  .  19 

in  the  boat,  taking  with  them  the  trunks  of 
Smith.  The  next  morning  the  captain  returned 
with  the  boat.  Upon  being  asked  why  he  had 
been  gone  so  long,  he  stated,  that  he  had  been 
prevented  from  returning  by  the  high  sea :  but 
the  truth  was,  he  had  delayed  only  that  his 
thievish  companions  might  escape  with  their 
plunder  before  it  was  possible  to  overtake  them. 
The  crew  suspected  the  villany  of  the  com- 
mander, (for  the  luggage  of  Smith  was  now 
missed,)  and  it  is  said  that  they  proposed  to 
Smith  to  kill  him,  and  seize  the  vessel  and  car- 
go. This,  however,  he  very  properly  refused  to 
do,  and  thus  went  ashore,  poor  and  friendless. 
Indeed,  his  poverty  Avas  now  so  great,  that  he 
sold  part  of  his  clothing  to  pay  his  passage. 

One  of  the  sailors  now  took  compassion  upon 
him,  and  paying  his  expenses,  they  travelled  to- 
gether as  far  as  Mortaine,  where  the  villains 
lived,  (for  this  sailor,  it  seems,  knew  them.)  His 
journey  proved  useless,  as  far  as  his  trunks  were 
concerned,  for  being  poor  and  without  friends, 
he  found  it  impossible  to  recover  any  part  of  his 
property.  His  desolate  situation,  however,  called 
out  the  sympathy  of  many  good  people,  and  he 
was  invited  to  their  homes,  kindly  treated,  and 
supplied  with  further  sums  of  money. 


20  JOHN   SMITH. 

Still  eager  to  pursue  his  travels,  and  unwilling 
to  remain,  receiving  favors  which  he  could  not 
return,  he  resolved  upon  leaving  this  place. 
With  a  light  heart,  therefore,  he  started  on  foot 
toward  the  sea-shore,  hoping,  in  some  one  of 
the  seaport  towns,  to  find  a  ship  in  w'hich  he 
might  embark.  In  his  wanderings,  his  money 
was  soon  again  exhausted.  It  was  during  this 
journey  that  he  accidentally  met  one  day,  near 
Dinan,  one  of  the  villains  who  had  robbed  him. 
Without  saying  a  word,  they  both  instantly  drew 
their  swords.  A  crowd  gathered  "around  them ; 
Smith  had  wounded  him,  and  he  forced  the 
Frenchman  to  confess  his  guilt  before  the  whole 
multitude.  This,  however,  was  all  he  obtained, 
for  he  found  none  of  his  property.  Before  he 
reached  the  sea-shore,  he  suffered  many  priva- 
tions. It  is  said,  that  after  wandering  one  day 
through  a  forest,  he  was  so  much  exhausted  to- 
ward evening,  by  fatigue  and  exposure,  that  he 
threw  himself  down  by  a  fountain,  expecting  to 
die  there ;  and  would  probably  have  died,  had 
not  a  kind  farmer  discovered  him,  and  once  more 
supplied  his  Avants. 

He  now  remembered  an  old  friend,  whom  he 
had  seen  before,  (the  Earl  of  Ployer,)  and  knew, 
if  he  could  reach  him,  he  would  receive  sympathy 


JOHN    SMITH.  21 

and  assistanct.  Accordingly,  he  managed  to 
reach  the  home  of  this  friend,  and  found  all  his 
hopes  realized.  The  Earl  treated  him  with 
marked  kindness,  and  furnished  him  with  money 
for  his  journey.  He  now  travelled  along  the 
French  coast  to  Bayonne,  and  thence  crossed 
over  to  Mai-seilles,  noticing  particularly,  by  the 
way,  any  and  every  thing  that  fed  his  passion 
for  naval  and  military  exploits.  At  Marseilles 
he  found  a  ship  ready  to  sail  for  Italy. 

In  this  ship  it  happened  that  there  were  a 
number  of  pilgrims,  going  to  Rome.  Smith, 
however,  took  passage  with  them,  and  new 
troubles  soon  met  him  on  the  voyage.  A  storm 
at  first  drove  the  vessel  into  the  harbor  of  Tou- 
lon :  after  the  tempest  had  passed  away,  and 
they  were  again  on  their  voyage,  head  winds 
ere  long  met  them,  and  they  were  forced  to  an- 
chor under  the  little  island  of  Saint  Mary,  off 
Nice,  in  Savoy.  Here  the  pilgrims  began  to 
murmur  and  complain.  Their  bigotry  and  mad- 
ness induced  them  to  suppose  that  Smith  was 
the  cause  of  their  troubles,  because  he  was  what 
they  called  a  heretic.  They  abused  him,  because 
he  was  a  Protestant,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  of 
England,  because  she  was  known  to  protect 
the  Protestant  religion :  and  they  were  scarcely 


22  JOHN   SMITH. 

again  under  way,  when  their  madness  carried 
them  so  far,  that  they  seized  Smith,  and  without 
any  mercy,  threw  him  overboard.  What  became 
of  the  pilgrims,  I  cannot  say,  but  a  merciful 
Providence  watched  over  Smith,  and  sustained 
him  throuo;h  the  strus^g-le  of  swimmino-  back  to 
the  island.  Weak  and  exhausted,  he  was  in  a 
pitiable  condition.  He  found  no  one  near  him—* 
yet,  with  a  heart  of  hope,  he  raised  signals, 
trusting  that  some  ship  passing  by  might  mark 
his  distress.  Fortunately,  next  day,  a  ship  of 
Saint  Malo  put  in  at  the  island  for  shelter,  and 
doubly  fortunate  he  was  when  he  found  that  the 
commander  of  this  ship  was  Captain  La  Roche, 
a  friend  and  neighbor  to  his  old  friend,  the  Earl 
of  Ployer.  Of  course.  Smith  now"  met  Avith  every 
attention.  In  a  little  time  the  vessel  proceeded 
on  her  voyage  to  Alexandria,  in  Egypt.  Thence 
she  coasted  the  Levant.  On  her  return  home- 
ward, she  fell  in  wuth  a  Venetian  vessel.  The 
French  captain  tried  to  speak  her,  but  was  an- 
swered only  by  "  a  broadside,"  (the  French  ship 
being  mistaken,  I  suppose,  for  a  pirate.)  A 
sharp  action  now  commenced — Smith  bearing 
a  bold  part  in  it.  After  a  hard  contest,  the 
Venetian  ship  was  taken,  and  found  to  be  very 
richly  laden.    All  that  was  valuable  was  seized, 


JOHN   SMITH.  23 

and  the  conquerors  divided  the  spoils.  Smith, 
for  his  valor,  received  as  his  share,  a  box  con- 
taining a  thousand  sequins,  (about  two  thousand 
dollars.)  At  his  own  request  now^  he  w-as  landed 
on  the  shore  of  Piedmont,  and,  with  abundance 
of  money,  travelled  through  Italy,  marking  every 
thing  that  was  interesting.  His  desire  for  mili- 
tary glory  Avas,  however,  still  uppermost  in  his 
heart,  and  crossing  the  Adriatic,  he  travelled  on 
till  he  came  to  Gratz,  in  Styria,  the  seat  of  Fer- 
dinand, the  Archduke  of  Austria.  War  \vas  at 
this  time  raging  between  the  Germans  and  the 
Turks ;  and  Smith,  finding  two  of  his  country- 
men at  the  place,  was  soon  introduced  to  Lord 
Eberspaught,  Baron  Kizel,  Count  Meldritch, 
and  other  officers  of  distinction.  He  at  once  en- 
listed as  a  volunteer,  to  serve  in  the  army  against 
the  Turks. 

It  w^as  not  long  now,  before  his  genius  had 
full  scope  to  shew  itself.  The  Turkish  army, 
(twenty  thousand  strong,)  under  Ibrahim  Pasha, 
having  ravaged  the  neighboring  country,  were 
now  laying  siege  to  the  strong  town  of  Olym- 
pach.  Lord  Eberspaught  was  here,  shut  up  with 
his  army,  and  cut  off  from  all  supplies  and  com- 
munication with  his  friends.  Smith  served  in 
Baron  Kizel's  army,  who  was  endeavoring  to 


24  JOHN   SMITH. 

help  Eberspaught  in  his  perilous  condition.  De- 
sirous of  sending  a  message  to  him,  and  finding 
it  impossible,  Smith  now  proposed  to  try  his 
plan  for  communicating  with  him — a  plan  of 
which  he  had  formerly  talked  with  Eberspaught. 
This  was  by  means  of  a  telegraph,  which  he  had 
invented.  .  Kizel  consented,  and  Smith  now  went 
at  night  with  a  guard,  to  a  hill  in  sight  of  the 
town,  yet  far  enough  to  be  unobserved  by  the 
Turkish  army.  Raising  his  signals,  he  conveyed 
to  Eberspaught  this  message  :  "  Thursday  night 
I  will  charge  on  the  east ;  at  the  alarm  sally 
thou"  The  signal  was  understood,  and  the  an- 
swer came  back,  "  /  will."*  Making  ready  for 
Thursday  night,  he  prepared  a  number  of 
matches  on  a  string,  which  he  extended  in  a 
line,  in  a  certain  direction.  Just  on  the  eve  of 
the  attack,  these  matches  were  fired,  and  ex- 
ploded like  a  roar  of  musketry.  The  Turks, 
thinking  they  were  attacked  in  that  quarter,  sal- 
lied out  to  meet  the  enemy.  Kizel,  with  his 
army,  rushed  upon  them  at  the  moment — the 

•  Smith's  method  of  communicating  was  by  means  of 
torches.  Each  letter  from  A  to  L  was  designated  by  shew- 
ing one  torch  as  many  times  as  corresponded  to  the  letter's 
place  in  the  alphabet — each  letter,  from  M  to  Z,  was  desig- 
nated by  shewing  two  torches  after  the  same  manner.  The 
end  of  a  word  was  signified  by  shewing  three  lights. 


JOHN   SMITH.  25 

men  in  the  garrison  moved  at  the  same  time — 
the  Turks  were  routed,  numbers  of  them  were 
slain,  numbers  driven  into  the  river  and  drown- 
ed, and  two  thousand  of  Kizel's  men  enter- 
ed the  garrison.  The  next  day,  the  enemy 
Avas  glad  to  abandon  the  siege.  This  gallant 
action  gained  great  applause  for  Smith,  and  he 
was  at  once  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  troop 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  in  the  regiment 
of  Count  Meldritch. 

Flushed  with  success,  the  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many now  resolved  to  prosecute  the  war  boldly, 
and  for  this  purpose  three  large  armies  were 
raised.  Smith  served  in  that  commanded  by  the 
Archduke  Matthias,  the  Emperor's  brother.  The 
principal  command  of  this  force,  how^ever,  devolv- 
ed upon  the  lieutenant,  the  Duke  Mercury,  and 
Smith  seems  to  have  shared  his  particular  confi- 
dence. Ere  long,  they  laid  "siege  to  Alba  Re- 
galis,  in  Hungary.  This  was  a  town  strongly 
fortified  by  the  Turks.  Smith's  skill  here  an- 
noyed the  enemy  greatly,  for  he  managed  to 
throw  bombs  from  a  sling,  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  two  or  three  times  succeeded  in  setting  the 
place  on  fire.  After  an  obstinate  resistance,  this 
place  was  taken  with  great  loss  to  the  Turks. 
So  unexpected  was  this  result,  that  the  Turks 
3 


26  JOHN   SMITH. 

could  hardly  believe  themselves  routed  :  and  it 
is  said,  that  one  of  their  Bashaws,  upon  hearing 
the  sad  news,  would  eat  nothing  the  whole  day, 
but  threw  himself  upon  the  ground,  and  con- 
tinued to  pray  to  Mahomet  to  deliver  his  coun- 
trymen. The  Sultan,  however,  could  not  rest 
satisfied  with  this  defeat,  and  sent  an  army  of 
sixty  thousand  men  to  recapture  the  place.  The 
Duke  Mercury,  hearing  of  the  approach  of  this 
vast  number,  was  not  dismayed,  though  his  num- 
bers were  comparatively  small.  He  marched 
out  to  meet  them,  and,  after  a  desperate  battle, 
defeated  the  Turks  once  more.  The  fight  must 
have  been  tremendous,  for  six  thousand  of  the 
Turks  (it  is  said)  were  left  dead  upon  the  field. 
Smith  bore  himself  as  usual,  gallantly,  through 
the  whole,  escaping  narrowly  with  his  life.  His 
horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  he  was  severely 
wounded. 

In  a  little  time,  he  was  again  at  the  head  of 
his  own  company,  and  with  Count  Meldritch, 
marched  into  Transylvania.  Here  the  Turks 
were  committing  their  ravages,  and  the  Count 
felt  peculiarly  excited  against  them,  because  his 
family  possessions  lay  in  that  region.  A  strong 
body  of  Turks,  after  scouring  the  country,  had 
now  fortified  themselves  in  the  town  of  Regal, 


JOHN   SMITH.  27 

among  the  mountains  of  Transylvania,  and  here 
they  felt,  secure.  With  eight  thousand  men 
Meldritch  laid  siege  to  this  place.  Fortunately, 
he  was  soon  after  joined  by  Prince  Moyses,  with 
nine  thousand  more.  The  place  was  so  strong  by 
nature,  and  so  strongly  garrisoned,  that  the  siege 
proved  long,  and  seemed,  indeed,  almost  useless. 
The  Turks,  feehng  their  strength,  began  to  grow 
insolent.  At  length  one  of  their  number,  the 
Lord  Turbishaw,  (for  the  purpose,  as  was 
said,  of  amusing  the  Turkish  ladies,)  sent  a  chal- 
lenge to  any  man  of  the  Christian  troops,  who 
dared  come  out  to  fight  him.  Lots  w^ere  now 
cast,  to  see  w^ho  should  accept  this  challenge ; 
and  the  lot  fell  upon  Smith.  The  time  for  the 
meeting  approached,  and  the  battlements  of  the 
town  were  Hned  with  ladies  to  witness  it.  Lord 
Turbishaw,  elegantly  dressed  in  a  magnificent 
suit  of  armor,  which  blazed  with  gold,  silver, 
and  jewels,  now  rode  out  into  the  field.  Three 
men  attended  him,  one  bearing  his  lance,  and 
two  others  moving  by  the  side  of  his  horse. 
Smith  rode  out  to  meet  him,  attended  only  by  a 
page,  who  bore  his  lance.  The  trumpets  now 
sounded,  (as  the  signal  for  battle,)  and  the 
conflict  commenced.  It  was  soon  ended;  for 
Smith,  with  his  lance,  thrust  the  Turk  through 


28  JOHN   SMITH. 

the  head,  and  he  fell  dead  from  his  horse.  Great 
was  the  shout  of  joy  now  raised  by  the  Christian 
troops;  and  loud  the  lamentations  among  the 
Turkish  ladies.  The  conqueror  now  cut  off  the 
head  of  Turbishaw,  and  bore  it  back  in  triumph 
among  his  comrades,  leaving  his  dead  body  ly- 
ing upon  the  ground.  This  defeat  was  more 
than  the  Turks  could  well  bear,  and  a  particular 
friend  of  Turbishaw's,  named  Grualgo,  was  in- 
flamed with  rage.  Burning  to  revenge  the  death 
of  his  friend,  he  sent  now  a  special  challenge  to 
Smith,  to  meet  him.  The  challenge  was  at  once 
accepted,  and  the  next  day  fixed  for  the  meet- 
ing. It  was  agreed  this  time  that  the  conqueror 
should  have  the  horse  and  the  armor  of  the  de- 
feated. In  the  morning  they  met.  At  their  first 
attack,  their  lances  were  shivered — their  pistols 
were  then  discharged,  and  both  were  wounded, 
Smith  slightly,  the  Turk  severely,  in  the  arm. 
Smith  now  had  the  advantage.  The  Turk,  from 
the  wound  in  his  arm,  being:  unable  to  manao^e 
his  horse,  was  easily  slain;  his  head  was  also 
taken  from  his  body,  and  carried  triumphant- 
ly to  the  Christian  troops.  His  horse  and  his 
armor  too,  were  now  the  trophies  of  the  con- 
queror. Proud  of  his  success,  in  a  haughty 
spirit,  Smith  (by  permission  of  his  commander) 


JOHN   SMITH.  29 

now  sent  his  challenge  to  the  Turks.  If  the 
ladies,  he  said,  still  desired  amusement,  and 
would  choose  their  champion,  he  would  add  his 
head  to  the  number  he  had  taken,  or  lose  his 
own.  A  champion  was  soon  found  in  the  per- 
son of  a  ferocious  Turk,  named  Bonamolgro — 
the  challenge  accepted,  and  terms  agreed  upon. 
As  Bonamolgro  was  the  challenged  person,  and 
had  the  choice  of  arms,  having  seen  Smith's 
skill  in  using  the  lance,  he  avoided  this,  and  se- 
lected for  the  weapons,  pistols,  battle-axes,  and 
swords.  The  next  day  they  met ;  their  pistols 
were  first  fired,  without  injuring  either  party, 
and  then  they  fought  with  battle-axes.  The 
Turk  was  more  skilled  than  Smith  in  the  use  of 
this ;  and  dealing  him  a  heavy  blow,  he  un- 
horsed him,  while  his  battle-axe  fell  from  his 
hand.  The  ramparts  now  rung  with  the  shouts 
of  ladies,  who  supposed  Smith  was  discomfited. 
But  Smith  was  a  fine  horseman,  and  this  saved 
him.  In  an  instant,  he  rallied  from  the  blow, 
remounted  his  horse,  and  by  dexterous  manage- 
ment of  the  animal,  succeeded,  not  only  in  avoid- 
ing the  blows  aimed  at  him  by  the  Turk,  but  at 
a  favorable  moment  ran  him  through  with  his 
sword.  Bonamolgro  fell  to  the  ground,  and  his 
head  was  also  taken.  The  Turks  were  no  dis- 
3* 


30  JOHN   SMITH. 

heartened,   and  ere   long   the   town  was  cap- 
tured. 

The  triumph  of  the  Christian  forces  was  now 
great ;  but  Smith's  triumph  was  greater,  for  he 
was  the  special  hero  of  the  occasion.  He  was 
conducted  to  the  pavilion  of  his  general  by  a 
military  procession  of  six  thousand  men.  Be- 
fore these  were  led  three  horses,  and  in  front  of 
all  were  the  three  Turks'  heads,  borne  on  the 
points  of  .three  lances.  Here  he  was  received 
with  great  honor.  The  general  embraced  him 
warmly,  presented  him  with  a  horse,  richly  ca- 
parisoned, a  cimeter  and  belt,  worth  three  hun- 
dred ducats ;  and,  best  of  all,  in  Smith's  estima- 
tion, made  him  the  major  of  a  regnnent  of  men. 
Nor  was  the  honor  of  his  exploits  yet  ended ;  for 
afterwards,  when  the  Prince  of  Transylvania 
heard  of  his  valor,  he  presented  to  Smith  his 
picture,  set  in  gold ;  gave  him  a  pension  of  three 
hundred  ducats  a  year,  and  granted  him  a  coat 
of  arms,  bearing  three  Turks'  heads  in  a  shield. 
The  motto  of  the  coat  of  arms  was  this :  "  Fm- 
cere  est  vivereJ'  His  fame  was  soon  known  at 
home,  as  W' ell  as  abroad ;  for  this  patent  of  the 
Prince  was  afterwards  admitted  and  recorded,  in 
the  College  of  Heralds,  in  England,  by  Sir  Henry 
Segar,  garter  king  at  arms.     Smith  (it  is  said) 


JOHN  SMITH.  31 

always  remembered  this  occasion  w^th  great  ex- 
ultation, and  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  was  proud 
of  this  motto. 

His  passion  for  a  soldier's  life  naturally  enough 
grew  stronger  as  he  advanced  in  distinction,  and 
he  was  soon  again  in  active  service.  In  Wallachia, 
which  was  at  this  time  a  Turkish  province,  the 
inhabitants  revolted  against  the  reigning  prince, 
and  proclaimed  a  new  one  Pressed  with  a 
hard  struggle,  they  applied  to  the  Emperor  of 
Germany  to  aid  them,  and  he  at  once  took  ad- 
vantage of  their  position,  and  met  their  entreaty. 
Count  Meldritch,  Smith,  and  other  officers,  with 
an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men,  w^ent  to  the 
assistance  of  the  new  prince.  The  deposed 
prince,  resolute  upon  maintaining  his  place,  had 
gathered  together  his  forces,  and  now  met  them 
with  an  army  of  forty  thousand  Turks  and  Tar- 
tars. A  desperate  and  bloody  struggle  followed  : 
the  army  of  the  Turks  w^as  routed,  and  only  fif- 
teen thousand  made  good  their  retreat.  Twenty- 
five  thousand  Turks  (it  is  said)  lay  dead  or 
wounded  upon  the  field,  and  the  province  was 
now  subject  to  the  Emperor. 

With  a  strong  heart,  the  deposed  prince  was 
still  bent  upon  holding  his  place.  He  gathered 
his  troops  again  together,  and  was  ere  long  heard 


32  JOHN   SMITH. 

of  in  the  province  of  Moldavia.  Count  Meldritch 
and  Smith  again  met  him.  After  several  skilful 
and  successful  skirmishes  against  him,  they  seem 
to  have  been  flushed  with  pride;  and  now  pressing 
eagerly  on  in  a  narrow^  and  mountainous  pass,  near 
the  town  of  Rottenton,  they  were  surprised  by  an 
ambuscade.  Here  an  army  of  forty  thousand 
men  rushed  suddenly  upon  them  ;  the  Christian 
troops  fought  boldly  and  desperately,  but  to  little 
or  no  purpose.  They  w^ere  overpow^ered  by  num- 
bers, and  all  w^ere  slain  or  wounded,  except 
about  thirteen  hundred  men,  who,  with  Count 
Meldritch  at  their  head,  escaped  by  swimming  a 
river.  In  this  unfortunate  struggle,  Smith  was 
badly  w^ounded,  and  left  (as  his  friends  sup- 
posed) dead  upon  the  field.  In  this,  however, 
they  were  deceived.  The  Turks  discovered  him, 
bleeding  among  the  heaps  of  the  dead,  and  the  rich- 
ness of  his  dress  and  armor,  as  it  turned  out,  saved 
his  life.  Supposing  him  to  be  a  man  of  rank 
and  distinction,  they  were  too  cruel  to  despatch 
him,  but  saved  him,  that  he  might  suffer  a  more 
lingering  and  degrading  torment  than  death. 
His  wounds  were  dressed,  and  after  he  had  suffi- 
ciently recovered,  he,  with  many  others  of  the 
poor  prisoners,  were  taken  to  a  Turkish  town, 
and  there  sold  as  slaves,  in  the  market-place. 


JOHN    SMITH.  3b 

It  was  Smith's  lot  to  be  purchased  by  the  Ba- 
shaw Bogal ;  and  he  now  sent  him  as  a  present 
to  his  mistress,  Tragabigzanda,  in  Constantino- 
ple, accompanying  the  present  with  this  false- 
hood, that  Smith  was  a  Bohemian  nobleman, 
whom  he  had  made  prisoner  in  war 


CHAPTER  II. 

Smith  escapes  from  his  captivity — He  wanders 
through  Russia  and  Poland,  a7id  is  kindly 
entertained — Cordial  meeting  with  his  old 
friends,  in  Transylvania — He  journeys  to 
France,  Spain,  and  Morocco — Returns  to 
England — Happiness  of  his  friends  at  meet- 
ing him — Meets  with  Bartholomew  Gosnold, 
and  determines  to  sail  for  the  JVew  World — 
Patent  of  King  James  for  settling  Virginia — 
Their  ships  sail — Unkind  treatment  of  Smith  on 
the  voyage — The  Colonists  reach  Jamestown — 
Smith  is  refused  his  place  as  one  of  the 
Council. 

Smith  fared  fortunately  in  the  hands  of  his 
Turkish  mistress.  Being  able  to  speak  Italian, 
and  struck  with  the  manly  and  noble  bearing  of 
the  captive,  she  from  time  to  time  held  con- 
versations with  him,  and  learned  the  utter  false- 
hood of  the  Bashaw's  message  to  her.  Instead  of 
a  Bohemian  nobleman,  she  discovered  that  the 
prisoner  was  an  Englishman  of  good  family,  and 


JOHN   SMITH.  35 

promising  prospects ;  that  he  was  a  soldier  of 
fortune,  who  had  fallen  into  his  present  position 
in  the  struggle  near  Rottenton,  and  had  never 
seen  the  Bashaw,  till  they  met  in  the  market- 
place. Smith  now  told  her  the  whole  story  of  his 
wanderings,  and  the  lady  was  captivated  by  the 
man,  and  his  adventures.  Finding  her  heart 
drawn  toward  him,  and  fearing  that  he  might 
be  ill-used,  or  again  sold,  she  resolved  to  do 
what  she  could  for  his  protection.  She  sent  him 
therefore  to  her  brother  Timour,  the  Bashaw  of 
Nalbraitz,  who  lived  in  the  country  of  the  Cam- 
brian Tartars,  on  the  borders  of  the  Sea  of 
Azoph.  To  secure  his  good  treatment,  she  sent  a 
letter  with  him,  requesting  her  brother  to  treat 
him  kindly,  and  frankly  teUing  him,  that  she  felt 
a  deep  attachment  for  the  prisoner.  Her  letter, 
however,  instead  of  helping  Smith,  as  she  de- 
signed, only  outraged  her  brother.  He  w^as 
greatly  indignant  at  the  thought,  that  his  sister 
should  love  a  Christian  slave.  In  an  hour  after 
his  arrival,  he  was  stripped  of  all  his  clothing — 
his  head  and  beard  were  shaved — an  iron  collar 
was  fastened  round  his  neck — and  clothed  in  a 
suit  of  hair  cloth,  he  was  sent  out  to  hard  labor 
among  other  poor  Christian  slaves. 

Smith's  situation  was  now  pitiable  enough  5 


36  JOHN   SMITH. 

but  his  bold  spirit  was  unconquered.  His  com- 
panions in  misery  were  sad  and  in  despair ;  yet 
he,  though  well  nigh  driven  to  despair,  had  ever 
the  hope  of  being  again  free,  and  watched  every 
opportunity  of  making  his  escape.  He  thought 
first  of  running  away,  but  he  found  that  he  was 
watched  so  closely,  that  he  could  not  move  with- 
out being  seen.  Day  after  day,  therefore,  he  la- 
bored on,  but  with  a  heart  of  hope,  that  he 
should  one  day  be  rid  of  his  bondage.  How 
long  he  was  in  captivity  here,  I  cannot  say,  but 
he  at  last  made  his  escape  in  the  following 
manner. 

He  was  employed  one  day  in  threshing  corn, 
at  a  farm-house,  in  a  field,  about  three  miles 
from  the  place  where  his  tyrannical  master  liv- 
ed. The  master  was  in  the  habit,  at  times,  of 
visiting  the  laborers  at  their  work,  and  at  such 
times,  not  unfrequently,  treated  them  with  great 
cruelty.  On  this  occasion  he  visited  the  farm- 
house, and  having  a  personal  dislike  to  Smith, 
was  not  satisfied  wdth  abusing  him,  but  beat 
him  and  kicked  him  violently.  This  was  more 
than  the  proud  spirit  of  Smith  could  endure. 
Watching  his  opportunity,  therefore,  when  no 
one  was  present,  he  gave  him  a  blow  wdth  his 
threshing  flail,  and  laid  him  senseless  at  his  feet. 


JOHN   SMITH.  37 

No  time  was  now  to  be  lost.  He  at  once  dressed 
himself  in  the  Bashaw's  clothes,  hid  his  body  un- 
der the  straw,  filled  a  bag  with  corn,  closed  the 
doors,  mounted  the  Bashaw's  horse,  and  gallop- 
ed off  into  the  wilderness.  He  was  now  free,  but 
in  the  midst  of  a  wild  desert,  ignorant  of  his  way. 
In  this  desert  he  wandered  for  two  or  three 
days,  not  knowing  whither  he  was  going,  and 
fortunately  meeting  no  one  who  might  have 
marked  his  iron  collar,  known  him  as  a  slave, 
and  possibly  recaptured  him,  or  given  notice,  at 
least,  of  his  flight.  At  length  it  was  his  good 
fortune  to  reach  a  cross-road,  where  a  sign-post 
directed  him,  on  the  main  road  to  Russia.  Keep- 
ing this  road,  at  the  end  of  sixteen  days,  (dur- 
ing which  time  his  bag  supplied  him  with  his 
only  food,)  he  reached  Ecopohs,  upon  the  river 
Don,  where  there  was  a  garrison  of  the  Russians. 
The  commander  of  the  garrison,  learning  he  was 
a  Christian,  treated  him  with  great  kindness ; 
his  iron  collar  was  taken  off,  and  letters  were 
given  to  him,  introducing  him  very  kindly  to  the 
other  governors  in  that  region.  He  now  travelled 
on  through  Russia  and  Poland,  meeting  every 
where  with  kind  attention.  It  was  in  some  part 
of  this  journey  that  he  met  with  the  lady  Calla- 
mata,  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  him,  and  of 
4 


38  JOHN   SMITH. 

whom  Smith  ever  speaks  with  the  utmost  grati- 
tude. At  length  he  reached  Transylvania.  Here 
he  was  welcomed  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
His  fame  was  well  known,  and  his  old  comrades 
crowded  around  him,  rejoicing  once  more  to  see 
a  friend,  whom  they  supposed  lost  to  them  for 
ever.  At  Leipsic  he  had  a  joyful  meeting  with 
his  old  commander.  Count  Meldritch ;  and  the 
Prince  of  Transylvania,  (it  is  said,)  hearing  of 
his  arrival,  sent  for  him,  and  gave  him  a  present 
of  fifteen  hundred  ducats,  to  repair  his  losses. 
Smith  seems  to  have  been  so  touched  with  this 
kindness,  that  he  was  almost  ready  to  listen  to 
the  entreaties  of  these  friends,  and  make  his 
home  in  their  country.  One  thing  alone  pre- 
vented, and  that  was  the  longing  desire,  which 
naturally  enough  rested  in  his  heart,  to  visit 
once  more  his  native  land.  Who  loves  not  the 
spot  where  he  was  born,  and  where  he  played  in 
his  boyhood  ?  With  a  sad  heart,  therefore,  he 
tore  himself  from  these  friends,  and  journeyed 
on.  He  passed  through  France,  Germany,  and 
Spain,  observing,  as  was  his  custom,  every  thing 
attentively  on  his  way.  Now  he  was  turned 
aside  from  going  directly  home,  by  his  old  passion 
for  military  life.  Learning  that  a  civil  war  had 
broken  out,  in  the  kingdom  of  Morocco,  he  im- 


JOHN   SMITH.  39 

mediately  sailed  for  that  country,  with  the  in- 
tention of  embarking  in  the  struggle.  Upon  his 
arrival,  however,  not  being  pleased  with  either 
of  the  contending  parties,  he  determined  to  take 
no  part  in  it  whatever,  and  ere  long  set  sail  for 
England.  Strange  adventures  were  still  in  his 
way :  for  in  his  homeward  course,  he  bore  his 
part  in  another  naval  battle.  The  ship  in  which 
he  sailed  was  attacked  by  two  Spanish  vessels 
of  war,  and,  after  a  desperate  and  bloody  fight, 
they  were  driven  off.  He  soon  now  made  his 
landing  in  England,  having  (it  is  reported)  in 
his  possession  one  thousand  ducats,  which,  in  ad- 
dition to  some  property  which  he  held  in  Eng- 
land, enabled  him,  for  the  time,  to  feel  quite  in- 
dependent. 

Great  was  the  joy  between  Smith  and  his 
friends  now,  in  his  native  land.  While  he  glad- 
ly told  the  story  of  his  travels,  they  forgot  the 
sorrows  of  his  exile  in  the  delight  of  hearing 
him.  Their  joy,  however,  was  soon  again  over- 
cast, for  his  untired  spirit  began  to  pant  for 
other  adventures,  and  they  knew  that  it  was  idle 
to  attempt  to  restrain  him.  The  circumstances 
which  now  roused  his  spirit,  are  circumstances 
in  w^hich  we,  as  Americans,  are  nearly  in- 
terested 


40  JOHN   S^nTH. 

At  this  time,  well  nigh  all  Europe  was  filled 
with  a  desire  for  maritime  discoveries,  and  no- 
w^here  was  this  desire  more  ardent  than  in  Eng- 
land. Several  voyagers  had  now  crossed  the 
western  waters,  and  seen  portions  of  that  New 
World  which  had  been  discovered  by  Columbus. 
Returning  home,  they  had  marvellous  stories  to 
tell  of  its  richness  and  beauty.  More  than  this 
had  been  done.  Attempts  had  been  made  to 
colonize  a  part  of  the  new  continent.  The  bold 
genius  of  that  noble  Englishman,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  had  (even  during  the  reign  of  the  pre- 
ceding sovereign,  Queen  Elizabeth)  attempted 
to  plant  a  group  of  adventurers  upon  Roanoke 
Mand,  off  the  coast  of  Carolina;  and  though 
this  effort,  with  others,  had  failed,  the  desire  for 
the  same  sort  of  adventure  was  still  strongly  felt 
in  England;  and  as  new  tidings  came  from 
time  to  time  of  the  beauty  of  the  new  world,  this 
desire  only  increased.  It  happened  about  the 
time  of  Smith's  return  home,  that  Bartholomew 
Gosnold  (who,  in  1602,  had  made  a  voyage  to 
New  England)  was  talking  largely  of  the  pros- 
pects of  the  new  world,  and  was  himself  desir- 
ous and  ready  to  make  another  adventure  there, 
for  the  purpose  of  planting  a  colony  and  sub- 
•luing  the  Avilderness.     Meeting  with  Smith,  he 


JOHN   SMITH.  41 

found  one  ready  to  listen  to  his  story  and  plans; 
a  strong  friendship  was  soon  formed  between 
them,  and  they  determined  to  link  their  hopes 
together  in  this  new  undertaking.  They  now 
set  resolutely  to  work,  to  secure  sufficient  patron- 
age to  carry  out  their  design.  Other  voyagers 
returning  home,  confirmed  from  time  to  time  the 
statements  of  Gosnold,  and  animated  them  the 
more  in  their  efforts.  Ere  long,  they  found  sev- 
eral noblemen  and  gentlemen,  of  like  feeling 
with  themselves,  (among  whom  we  should  espe- 
cially remember  Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  a 
merchant,  Robert  Hunt,  a  clergyman,  and  Rich- 
ard Hackluyt,)  and  now  they  asked  of  King 
James  a  royal  patent,  for  making  new  dis- 
coveries, and  planting  a  colony  in  Virginia. 

The  king  met  these  proposals,  and  on  the  10th 
of  April,  1606,  issued  his  letters  patent  to  Sir 
Thomas  Gates,  Sir  George  Somers,  Richard 
Hackluyt  and  others.  By  these  letters,  they 
were  allow^ed  to  possess  all  the  territories  in 
North  America,  lying  between  the  thirty-fourth 
and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  and  all 
islands  within  the  same  latitudes,  wdthin  one  hun- 
dred miles  of  the  shore.  These  adventurers,  I 
believe,  had  asked  the  privilege  of  establishing 
two  colonies.  At  all  events,  they  were  divided 
4* 


42  JOHN  symi. 

into  two  companies — one  known  as  the  London 
or  South  Virginia  Company — the  other,  as  the 
Plymouth  Company.  The  two  companies  were 
lo  make  their  settlements  within  the  territory 
granted — one  in  tjie  southern,  the  other  in  the 
northern  part  of  it,  and  their  colonies  were  to  be 
kept  one  hundred  miles  apart  These  colonies 
were  to  be  governed  by  two  councils,  as  they 
were  called,  both  selected  by  the  king — one  coun- 
cil to  reside  in  England,  while  the  other  resided 
in  the  colony,  and  all  laws  made  by  the  Colo- 
nial Council  were  to  be  subject  to  repeal  or  al- 
teration by  the  king  or  Supreme  Council  at  home. 
These  terms  were  the  best  the  petitioners  could 
obtain,  and  the  London  Company  resolved  at 
once  to  act  under  them. 

Some  little  delay  w^as  experienced  in  making 
all  ready,  so  that  the  19th  of  December  arrived, 
before  their  ships  w^ere  ready  to  sail  from  Eng- 
land. On  that  day  three  ships,  one  of  one  hun- 
dred, another  of  forty,  and  another  of  twenty 
tons,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Christopher 
Newport,  fell  down  the  Thames,  bound  on  a 
voyage  for  Virginia.  Of  course,  they  were  well 
stocked  with  men  and  provisions  for  a  colony. 
Among  the  leaihng  men  on  board,  were  Barthol 
omew  Gosnold,  Captain  Smith,  Edward  Wing- 


JOHN   SMITH  43 

field  the  merchant,  and  Robert  Hunt  the  clergy- 
man. They  had  with  them,  among  other  things, 
a  sealed  box,  containing  "  orders  for  government 
in  Virginia,"  which  box  was  not  to  be  opened 
until  their  arrival  there. 

The  ships  were  now  detained  for  more  than 
six*  weeks  off  the  coast  of  England,  by  head 
winds;  and  murmurings  and  complaints  arose 
among  the  adventurers.  These,  however,  were 
allayed,  in  some  degree,  by  the  affection  and  per- 
severance of  the  good  clergyman,  Mr.  Hunt. 
Though  a  sick  man,  he  forgot  his  own  troubles 
to  make  them  happy.  There  w^ere  some  on 
board  who  hated  (it  seems)  him,  and  his  profes- 
sion, yet  "  all  this"  (we  are  told)  "  could  never 
force  from  him  so  much  as  a  seeming  desire  to 
leave  the  business,  but  he  preferred  the  service 
of  God  in  so  good  a  voyage,  before  any  affection 
to  contest  with  his  Godless  foes,  whose  disastrous 
designs  (could  they  have  prevailed)  had  even 
then  overthrown  the  business,  so  many  discon* 
tents  did  then  arise,  had  he  not  with  the  water 
of  patience,  and  his  Godly  exhortations,  (but 
chiefly  by  his  true  devoted  examples,)  quenched 
those  flames  of  envy   and  dissension."*     At 

♦  Smith's  Virgiaia— Vol.  I.,  page  150. 


44  JOHN   SMITH. 

length,  with  a  fair  wind,  they  shaped  their 
course  for  the  new  world,  by  the  old  route  of  the 
Canaries  and  West  India  Islands.  They  had 
scarcely  reached  the  Canaries,  when  their  mur- 
murings  became  louder  than  ever,  and  it  seems 
now  that  poor  Smith  was  unconsciously  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  them.  His  bold  and  manly  bear- 
ing, together  with  his  conversation,  had  excited 
the  suspicion  and  jealousy  of  some  of  his  com- 
panions. They  declared  that  he  had  the  desire 
and  intention  of  murdering  the  council,  and 
making  himself  king  of  Virginia,  and  that  he 
had  conspirators  among  the  crew  for  that  pur- 
pose. Smith  was  too  proud  to  make  any  expla- 
nation, when  he  felt  perfectly  innocent,  and  the 
consequence  w^as,  that  he  w^as  now  seized  and 
confined  as  a  prisoner  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 
They  were  also,  it  is  said,  outraged  with  Mr. 
Hunt  as  his  friend,  and  I  presume  his  profession 
and  prudence  alone  saved  him  from  the  same 
fate.  They  now  steered  from  the  Canaries,  to 
the  West  Indies.  Among  these  islands  they 
spent  three  weeks,  recruiting  for  their  farther 
voyage,  and  seem  to  have  been  much  pleased 
with  the  appearance  of  this  new  and  strange 
region.  Thence  they  moved  off  for  Virginia. 
Visited  with  unsteady  weather,  for  some  tim^ 


JOHN  SMilR.  45 

they  made  but  little  progress— and  having  at  one 
time  lost  their  reckoning  for  three  days,  many 
of  them  became  dissatisfied  again,  and  urged 
strongly  a  return  to  England.     Fortunately,  a 
fine  breeze  relieved  them  in  this  time  of  discon- 
tent, and  on  the  26th  day  of  April,  1607,  they 
saw  land,  and  entered  Chesapeake  Bay.      The 
land  first  seen  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  en- 
trance to  the  bay.      To  this  they  gave  the  name 
of  Cape  Henry,  and  to  the  point  on  the  south  side 
of  the  entrance,  the  name  of  Cape  Charles,  both 
in  honor  of  the  sons  of  King  James.    They  sailed 
into  the  first  broad  river  which  opened  before 
them,  naming  it  after  their  king,  James  River. 
For  seventeen  days  now,  they  busied  themselves 
in  findimr  a  convenient  spot  for  their  settlement, 
and  during  this  period  landed  several  times,  and 
met  the  savages  of  the  country.     The  first  land- 
ing was  at  Cape  Henry,  where  thirty  of  the  ad- 
venturers went  ashore.      Here  they  found  on 
the  flats  abundance  of  oysters  "  laying  as  thick 
as  stones,"  and  the  land  was  covered  with  wild 
flowers  and  fine  strawberries.      They  were  at- 
tacked by  five  savages,  and  two  of  their  number 
badly  wounded,  before  they  drove  them  off  with 
their   muskets.      Again   they  landed   at   Point 
Comfort,  on  the  north  side  of  the  mouth  of  James 


4S  JOHN   SMITH. 

River,  (a  place  so  named  by  themselves  because 
they  found  good  anchorage  there,  which  gave 
them  great  comfort.)  They  met  now  some  In- 
dians, who  at  first  were  frightened,  but  upon  one 
of  the  white  men's  laying  his  hand  upon  his 
neart,  the  savages  felt  that  their  intentions  were 
peaceable,  and  came  directly  to  them,  inviting 
them  to  visit  their  'town  Kecoughtan,  the  place 
where  Hampton  is  now  built.  The  invitation 
was  accepted,  and  when  they  reached  the  town, 
both  parties  were  well  pleased.  The  Indians 
feasted  the  strangers  on  cakes  of  Indian  corn, 
and  entertained  them  with  tobacco  and  a  dance, 
while  the  whites,  in  their  turn,  presented  to  them 
beads  and  other  trinkets.  Then  the  chief  of  the 
Rappahannas,  hearing  of  them,  sent  a  messenger 
to  invite  them  to  come  and  see  him,  and  to  guide 
them  to  his  home.  This  invitation  was  also  ac- 
cepted, and  they  were  received  in  great  state  by 
the  chief  and  his  people.  They  stood  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river  to  meet  them  as  they  landed. 
As  soon  as  they  were  ashore,  the  chief  came  be- 
fore them  at  the  head  of  his  train,  "  playing  on 
a  flute  made  of  a  reed,  with  a  crown  of  deer's 
hair  colored  red,  in  fashion  of  a  rose,  fastened 
about  his  knot  of  hair,  and  a  great  plate  of  cop- 
per on  the  other  side  of  his  head,  with  two  long 


JOHN    SMITH.  47 

feathers  in  fashion  of  a  pair  of  horns,  placed  in 
the  midst  of  his  crown.  His  body  was  painted 
all  with  crimson,  with  a  chain  of  beads  about 
his  neck ;  his  face  painted  blue  besprinkled  with 
silver  ore ;  his  ears  all  behung  with  bracelets  of 
pearl,  and  in  either  ear  a  bird's  claw  through  it, 
beset  with  fine  copper  or  gold."  He  now  had 
his  mat  spread  upon  the  ground,  and  while  his 
people  all  stood  around  him,  sat  down  and  smok- 
ed his  pipe  of  tobacco.  This  being  over,  he 
made  signs  to  the  whites  to  follow  him  to  his 
town.  He  went  first,  leading  the  way,  the 
Indians  and  whites  all  following,  and  after  pass- 
ing through  beautiful  woods  and  rich  fields  of 
corn,  they  at  length  ascended  a  steep  hill,  and  v/ere 
at  the  palace  of  the  chief  of  the  Rappahannas. 
Here  they  w^ere  treated  with  great  hospitality. 
Ascending  the  river,  they  afterwards  saw  a  body 
of  Indians,  standing  on  the  shore  all  armed,  and 
their  chief,  Apamatica — holding  in  one  hand  his 
bow  and  arrow,  and  in  the  other  his  pipe  of  to- 
bacco— boldly  demanded  what  they  had  come 
for.  They  made  signs  of  peace,  and  were  again 
kindly  entertained  by  him.  Still  passing  on,  at 
the  distance  of  thirty-two  miles  from  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  they  found  the  shore  on  the  north 
side  bold,  and  covered  with  heavy  timber ;  and 


48  JOHN   SMITH. 

the  water  near  by  being  six  fathoms  deep,  they 
were  enabled  to  moor  their  ships  to  the  trees  on 
the  land.  The  appearance  of  this  spot  pleased 
them  more  than  any  they  had  seen  j  and  upon 
being  visited  by  the  chief  of  the  Pashipays,  who 
offered  them  as  much  land  as  they  needed  for 
their  purpose,  and  gave  them  a  deer  for  their  en- 
tertainment, they  determined  here  to  make  their 
settlement.  It  was  now  the  13th  of  JNIay — they 
went  ashore,  pitched  their  tents,  and  gave  to  the 
spot  the  name  of  Jamestown.  When  the  sealed 
box  containing  their  orders  was  opened,  it  was 
found  that  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  John  Smith, 
Edward  M.  Wingfield,  Christopher  Newport, 
John  Ratcliff,  John  Martin,  and  George  Kendall, 
were  named  as  the  council  for  the  colony.  Their 
instructions  were  to  choose  a  president  from 
among  their  number,  for  one  year,  and  he,  with 
the  help  of  the  other  counsellors,  was  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  colony.  Matters  of  importance 
were  to  be  "  examined  by  a  jury,  but  determined 
by  the  major  part  of  the  council,  in  which  the 
president  had  two  voices."  Edward  M.  Wing- 
field  was  at  once  chosen  president,  and  with  all 
the  others,  except  John  Smith,  sworn  into  office. 
They  were  still  jealous  and  suspicious  of  this 
man,  (from  no  good  cause  whatever,  as  we  shall 


JOHN   SMITH.  49 

see,)  and  thus  refused  him  the  place  to  which 
he  had  been  appointed.  In  fact,  they  even 
went  so  far  as  to  set  forth  a  declaration  to  the 
whole  colony,  shewing  why  he  was  not  admitted 
to  his  office. 


50 


CHAPTER  m. 

J^oble  conduct  of  Smith — Beginning  of  James- 
town— WingfieWs  imprudence  in  not  prepar- 
ing  afort^  and  having  the  men  drilled  to  mil- 
itary  exercises — Smith  visits  the  chief  Powha- 
tan— Attack  upon  Jamestown  by  the  savages — 
Smith  demands  a  trial,  and  is  acquitted — JVew- 
port  sails  for  England — Sufferings  of  the  col- 
ony— Selfishness  of  Wingfield — He  tries  to 
escape  from  the  colony,  is  preveiited,  and  de- 
posed  from  the  Presidency — Ratcliff  is  made 
President — Being  a  weak  man,  the  care  of  the 
colony  falls  upon  Smith — His  excursion  to 
Kecoughtany  to  obtain  supplies — His  adven- 
tures up  the  Chickahomony  river — Is  made 
a  prisoner  by  the  hidians — His  treatment  by 
the  savages — Presents  his  compass  to  Opecan- 
chanough,  and  saves  his  life  thereby — Writes  to 
Jamestown — Is  led  about  among  various  tribeSy 
and  at  last  brought  to  WerowcomocOy  the  resi- 
dence of  Powhatan. 

The  injustice  done  to  Smith  formed  good 
ground  for  a  quarrel,  (and  he  had  some  friends 
among  the  colonists,)  but  his  own  magnanimity 


JOHN   SMITH.  51 

prevented  it.  They  were  all  in  a  wilderness, 
and  much  was  to  be  done  ere  they  could  call 
themselves  at  home.  He  forgot  his  own  trouble, 
therefore,  in  thinking  of  the  good  of  the  colony. 
All  hands  now  set  resolutely  to  work.  Some 
went  to  clearing  the  forests,  some  to  digging  and 
preparing  garden-spots,  some  to  making  nets, 
fixing  up  their  fishing-tackle,  &c.  The  Council 
planned  a  fort,  but  from  some  cause;  President 
Wingfield  did  not  desire  a  regular  fortification, 
and  to  please  him,  the  fort  was  made  to  consist 
only  of  the  boughs  of  trees,  loosely  laid  together 
in  the  shape  of  a  half  moon.  Some  of  the  Coun- 
cil, too,  were  in  favor  of  having  the  men  regular- 
ly drilled  to  mifitary  exercises,  that  they  might 
be  ready  at  any  time  to  meet  an  attack  from  the 
savages,  which  attack  they  thought  not  unlikely 
to  take  place  ;  but  this  too  was  thought  idle  by 
President  Wingfield,  and  consequently  was  neg- 
lected. 

Desirou*  of  learning  something  of  the  coun- 
try, Newport  and  Smith  were  despatched  with 
twenty  men,  to  discover  the  head  of  the  river. 
They  passed,  as  they  went  up,  many  small 
habitations,  and  on  the  sixth  day  reached  the 
falls  of  the  river,  where  they  erected  a  cross, 
and  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name 


52  JOHN  SMITH. 

of  King  James.  Near  by,  they  visited  the  famous 
Indian  town,  Powhatan.  This  consisted  only  of 
twelve  houses,  pleasantly  situated  upon  a  sloping 
hill,  and  was  at  the  time  the  residence  of  the  cele- 
brated chief  after  whom  it  w^as  named.  Powhatan 
(whose  name  rang  through  that  region  as  the 
greatest  of  Indian  chiefs)  received  them  with 
great  kindness,  and  was  greatly  delighted  with 
a  hatchet,  which  was  presented  to  him  by  Cap- 
tain Newport.  Some  of  his  men  seem  to  have 
been  suspicious  of  the  English,  and  murmured 
at  their  coming  among  them ;  but  Powhatan  re- 
buked them,  saying,  "  Why  should  we  be  of- 
fended ?  they  hurt  us  not,  nor  take  any  thing 
by  force :  they  want  only  a  little  ground,  which 
we  can  easily  spare."  The  English  now  left 
him  and  retm-ned  to  Jamestown. 

Great  w^as  their  surprise,  on  reaching  home, 
to  find  that  the  colony  had  been  attacked  by  the 
savages-— seventeen  of  their  companions  wound- 
ed, and  one  boy  killed.  It  was  foitunate  too 
that  they  heard  nothing  worse  than  this :  for  the 
whole  company  came  near  being  massacred. 
The  colonists  had  not  looked  for  the  attack,  and 
were  all  unarmed,  and  the  only  thing  that  saved 
them  was,  that  "  a  cross-barre  shot  from  the  ships 
struck  down  a  bough  of  a  tree  in  the  midst  of 


JOHN    SMITH.  53 

the  Indians,  and  caused  them  to  retire."  The 
president  now  saw  his  foily — the  fort  was  at 
once  pahsadoed — five  pieces  of  artillery  were 
mounted  upon  it ;  and  it  was  ordered  that,  after 
this,  the  men  should  be  armed  and  drilled 
to  their  exercises.  A  re^lar  guard  was  estab- 
lished at  night,  also  in  the  settlement,  and  the 
men  were  cautioned  about  straggling  into  the 
forests. 

Six  wrecks  had  passed  away,  and  the  ships 
were  well  nigh  laden  for  a  return  to  Eng- 
land. The  accusers  of  Smith  now  came  for- 
ward, and,  in  pretended  mercy,  offered  to  send 
his  case  home,  to  be  judged  by  the  Council  in 
England.  They  were  unwilhng  to  try  him  them- 
selves, (they  said,)  because  they  did  not  wish  to 
blacken  his  reputation,  and  perhaps  take  away 
his  life.  Conscious  of  his  innocence.  Smith 
spurned  their  proposal.  He  knew  that  his  whole 
conduct  had  been  uniformly  for  the  good  of  the 
colony,  and  he  now  demanded  that  it  should  be 
rigidly  looked  to — that  he  should  be  tried  upon 
the  spot.  The  witnesses  were  brought  for- 
ward. Falsehood  after  falsehood  was  soon  de- 
tected among  them.  Some  of  them  were  convicted 
of  perjury,  and  the  whole  company  at  once  saw 
his  innocence.     His  accusers  were  now  con- 


54  TOHN   SMITH. 

founded.  It  was  seen  that  Wingfield's  jealousy 
of  Smith  had  urged  false  witnesses  against  him, 
and  it  was  decided  that  the  president  should  pay 
him  two  hundred  pounds  for  the  injury  he  had 
done  him.  His  property  was  at  once  seized,  and 
the  two  hundred  pouiftls  raised  and  paid  over  to 
Smith,  who  immediately  placed  it  in  the  pubhc 
treasury,  for  the  good  of  the  colony.  Thus, 
after  a  patient  imprisonment  of  thirteen  weeks, 
he  triumphed  over  his  enemies ;  and  his  generous 
and  noble  conduct  had  made  him  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  colony.  He  was  now  ad- 
mitted to  his  place  in  the  council,  and  by  his  in- 
fluence and  that  of  the  good  preacher,  Mr.  Hunt, 
other  little  difficulties,  which  had  arisen  among 
the  colonists,  were  soon  settled.  The  next  Sun- 
day they  all  went  in  harmony  to  the  communion : 
the  neighboring  Indians  soon  after  came  in,  de- 
siring terms  of  peace,  and  on  the  22d  of  June, 
Captain  Newport  was  enabled  to  sail  home- 
ward, bearing  good  news  along  with  him.  He 
left  behind  him,  at  Jamestown,  one  hundred  and 
four  souls,  and  promised  to  be  back  among  them 
in  twenty  weeks,  with  fresh  supplies. 

Thus  left,  the  colonists  ere  long  began  to  suf- 
fer for  the  want  of  provisions ;  indeed,  the  want 
(it  is  said)  was  felt  at  times  before,  and  had  been 


JOHN   SMITH.  55 

relieved  at  such  times,  by  such  supplies  from  the 
ships'  stores  as  the  sailors  could  furnish.  Some, 
from  this  circumstance,  have  supposed  that  the 
company  at  home  was  at  fault,  in  not  fitting  out 
the  expedition  better,  and  supplying  it  with  ampler 
provisions ;  but  this  censure  would  hardly  seem  to 
be  just.  The  truth  is,  the  colonists,  instead  of  a 
voyage  of  two  months,  (as  was  calculated,)  had 
made  one  of  five,  and  consumed  during  this  time 
a  large  part  of  their  stores;  and  then  they  had  ar- 
rived in  Virginia  too  late  for  the  spring  plant- 
ing, and  thus  failed  in  another  expectation. 
This  seems  to  have  caused  the  difficulty.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  want  occurred,  and  they  were 
now  reduced  to  a  regular  daily  allowance  of  a 
half  pint  of  barley,  and  a  half  pint  of  wheat. 
To  make  their  fare  worse,  the  grain,  from 
having  been  so  long  in  the  ship's  hold,  was 
filled  with  insects.  Yet  this  diet  they  gladly 
received,  adding  to  it,  from  time  to  time,  such 
fish  as  they  could  take  from  the  river.  They 
still  kept  on  with  their  labors,  however,  exposed 
as  they  were  to  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun  by 
day,  and  lying  upon  the  ground,  with  a  poor 
shelter  over  them,  at  night.  As  might  have 
been  expected,  starvation,  exposure,  and  anxiety, 
brought  on  disease  before  the  end  of  the  fall 


56  JOHN   SMITH. 

season.  By  the  end  of  September,  fifty  of  their 
number  had  died,  among  whom  was  Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold.  The  rest  w^ere  now  divided  into 
three  watches,  (for  they  still  kept  up  the  pre- 
caution of  a  watch,)  and  of  these  not  more  than 
five  in  each  watch  w^ere  fit  for  duty  at  one 
time.  During  this  period  of  sad  distress,  the  presi- 
dent (it  is  said)  thought  only  of  himself.  He 
was  well  through  the  whole  of  it;  and  is  charged 
with  having  seized  and  secreted  provisions  for 
his  own  use.  His  after  conduct  seems  to  con- 
firm the  charge — at  least  it  shews  that  he  had 
but  little  sympathy  with  the  sufferers.  He, 
with  Kendall,  was  soon  detected  in  a  plan  which 
they  had  formed  for  seizing  the  pinnace,  which 
belonged  to  the  colony — deserting  the  settle- 
ment, and  escaping  to  the  West  Indies.  The 
settlers  w^ere  now  enraged,  and  at  once  took 
from  him  the  presidency,  and  banished  Kendall 
from  the  council.  John  RatclifF  was  chosen 
president  in  his  place,  and  he,  with  Martin  and 
Smith,  were  now  the  only  members  of  the  coun- 
cil left. 

RatclifF  and  Martin  were  men  of  little  courage 
or  resolution,  and  thus  the  management  of  the 
colony  fell  almost  altogether  upon  Smith ;  nor 
could  it  have  fallen  upon  a  better  or  abler  man. 


JOHN    SMITH.  57 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  obtain  supphes, 
and  these  they  soon  had  without  any  difficulty. 
Fortunately,  their  Indian  neighbors  proved  friend- 
ly, and  came  in,  bringing  such  quantities  of  food 
as  they  could  spare.  Their  hearts  were  now 
cheered  ;  and  Smith,  knowing  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  make  preparations  for  the  approaching 
winter  as  rapidly  as  possible,  at  once  set  the 
men  to  work,  resolutely  leading  the  way  himself. 
His  words  and  his  example  encouraged  them 
They  commenced  cutting  timber  for  building 
houses,  and  mowing  and  binding  thatch  for  cov- 
ering them  ;  so  that  in  a  little  time,  Jamestown 
was  a  comfortable  village,  in  which  every  man 
had  a  shelter  and  home,  except  Smith  himself. 
The  stock  of  provisions  which  the  Indians  had 
brought  in  being  now  nearly  exhausted,  it  was 
necessary  to  look  out  for  more.  He  chose,  there- 
fore, five  or  six  of  the  best  men  as  his  compan- 
ions, and,  well  armed,  they  went  down  the  river 
in  the  shallop  to  Kecoughtan,  the  place  where 
Hampton  now  stands.  Here  they  found  but  lit- 
tle good  feehng  toward  them.  The  Indians, 
knowing  their  necessity,  and  the  starving  state 
of  the  colony,  treated  them  with  great  contempt. 
When  they  offered  to  trade  with  them,  the  sava- 
ges would  give  them  only  an  ear  of  corn  for  a 


58  JOHN    SMITH. 

sword,  a  musket,  or  one  of  their  garments  Pro- 
voked by  such  conduct,  and  finding  that  they 
were  not  likely  to  obtain  anything  by  kind  and 
gentle  treatment,  Smith  now  resolved  upon  a 
bold  experiment.  He  ordered  the  boat  to  be 
drawn  ashore,  and  his  men  to  fire  their  muskets. 
The  frightened  Indians  now  fled  to  the  woods  for 
shelter :  and  the  party  immediately  went  to  their 
houses,  searching  for  corn.  Of  this  they  found 
an  abundance :  but  Smith  would  not  allow  them 
yet  to  touch  it.  Fearing  the  treachery  of  the  In- 
dians, he  supposed  they  would  soon  appear  again 
and  make  a  general  attack  upon  him.  He  there- 
fore made  ready  for  them :  nor  was  he  disap- 
pointed. In  a  little  time  some  sixty  or  seventy 
of  them,  painted  of  different  colors,  were  seen 
advancing  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square,  bring- 
ing their  idol  Okee  in  the  midst  of  them.  This 
idol  was  nothing  more  than  a  figure  made  of 
skins,  stufTed  with  moss,  and  ornamented  with 
chains  of  copper.  The  savages  were  armed 
with  clubs,  bows  and  arrows,  and  approached  in 
great  confidence,  singing  and  dancing.  Smith 
and  his  men  again  discharged  their  muskets, 
bringing  many  of  them  to  the  ground,  and 
with  them  their  idol  Okee.  The  battle  was  at 
once  over ;  the  rest  now  fled  to  the  woods,  and 


JOHN   SMITH.  59 

soon  after  sent  some  of  their  number  to  beg  for 
peace,  and  to  recover  their  idol.  Smith,  now  tri- 
umphant, was  in  a  condition  to  make  his  own 
terms.  He  agreed  that  if  six  of  them,  unarmed, 
would  come  and  load  his  boat  with  corn,  he 
would  return  their  idol,  be  their  friend,  and  give 
them  presents  of  beads,  hatchets,  and  copper. 
The  terms  were  faithfully  performed  on  both 
sides ;  indeed,  the  Indians  w^ere  so  much  pleased, 
that  they  brought,  besides,  venison,  turkeys,  and 
other  game,  and  kept  up  their  singing  and  danc- 
ing until  the  white  men  left  for  Jamestown. 

Finding  himself  so  successful  in  this  enterprise, 
Smith  now,  from  time  to  time,  as  provisions  were 
needed,  continued  his  excursions — sometimes  on 
foot,  sometimes  in  the  boat.  He  discovered  most 
of  the  branches  of  the  James  river,  and  explored 
the  country  extensively.  In  one  of  his  excur- 
sions, he  was  particularly  struck  with  the  fertile 
banks  of  the  Chickahomony  river,  and  marked 
it  as  a  region  where,  in  time  of  want,  he  might 
probably  obtain  plentiful  supplies  from  the  In- 
dians. But  his  efforts  at  aiding  the  colony  were 
continually  thwarted  by  bad  management  during 
his  absence.  Ratcliff  and  Martin  were  weak 
men,  and  allowed  the  stores  to  be  wasted,  which 
he  with  so  much  labor  procured.    They  suffered 


60  JOHN    SMITH. 

too,  the  natives  to  come  into  the  settlement  from 
time  to  time,  trading,  and  the  whites  in  their  bar 
gains  outbidding  one  another  at  times,  soon 
taught  the  savages  to  set  a  high  value  upon  all 
their  articles,  and  to  complain  if  they  did  not 
always  receive  the  highest  prices.  Thus,  a  dis- 
contented spirit  soon  prevailed  among  them. 
Troubles,  too,  were  continually  fostered  by  bad 
men  in  the  colony.  Wingfield  and  Kendall,  dis- 
satisfied at  their  treatment,  made  loud  complaints, 
and  at  one  time,  during  Smith's  absence,  plotted 
to  steal  the  shallop,  (which  had  been  made 
ready  for  a  trading  voyage,)  and  make  their 
escape  to  England.  Smith  returned  in  time,  how- 
ever, to  prevent  this,  though  it  was  done  with 
difficulty.  ■  It  was  necessary  to  do  it  forcibly,  and 
Kendall  was  killed.  Soon  after  this,  Ratcliff, 
with  a  man  named  Archer,  equally  dissatisfied, 
attempted  the  same  thing,  but  these  also  were 
prevented  from  carrying  out  their  plans.  Yo; 
perceive,  therefore,  what  struggles  Captain  Smith 
had  to  encounter  He  had  enemies  around  him 
in  the  savages,  and  enemies  at  home  in  the  colo- 
ny, while  almost  from  day  to  day  he  had  to  pro- 
vide for  the  wants  of  his  well  nigh  starving 
countr}^men.  Yet  he  was  resolved  to  keep  pos- 
session of  the  country,  and  difficulties  only  roused 


JOHN   SMITH.  C^l 

nim  the  more,  to  carry  out  this  strong  resolution 
Fortunately,  as  winter  approached,  a  plentiful 
supply  of  wild  fowl  were  taken,  and  making 
friends  of  the  Indians  from  time  to  time,  they 
brought  him  quantities  of  corn,  beans,  and  pump- 
kins. He  was  in  fact  now  the  father  of  the 
colony :  the  people  turned  to  him  in  all  theii 
troubles,  and  by  looking  closely  to  their  wants, 
he  managed  to  secure  most  of  them  as  warm 
friends  to  himself. 

It  is  well  nigh  impossible  to  please  all  men  : 
and  Smith  soon  found  that  some  few  were  com- 
plaining of  him,  that  he  had  not  done  all  that  he 
could  for  their  relief.  He  had,  as  I  have  told 
you,  discovered  the  Chickahomony  river — and 
the  complaint  now  was,  that  w^anting  resolution, 
he  had  not  explored  it  to  its  source,  made  friends 
of  the  Indians  there,  and  opened  the  way  for  a 
continued  supply  from  them.  Resolved  that  such 
a  complaint,  however  groundless,  should  no  lon- 
ger exist,  he  now  fitted  up  the  boat,  and  taking 
some  of  the  men,  started  for  that  river.  He  went 
so  high  up  the  stream  this  time,  that  he  was  forced 
to  cut  the  trees  that  had  fallen  into  the  river,  that 
the  boat  might  pass  through.  At  length,  having 
moved  up  as  high  as  the  boat  would  float,  she 
was  dragged  ashore  to  a  safe  place,  and  the  men 
6 


62  JOHN   SMITH. 

were  ordered  to  remain  there  \vith  her,  until  he 
should  come  back.  Taking  now  two  of  his 
men,  with  two  Indians  as  guides,  he  moved  up  in 
an  Indian  canoe,  to  the  meadows  at  the  head  of 
the  river.  Here  he  left  his  two  men  with  the 
canoe,  and  with  the  guides  passed  on  for  many 
miles  over  the  meadows.^  Smith's  men  disobey- 
ed his  orders,  and  consequently  brought  trouble 
upon  the  whole  party.  Instead  of  remaining 
with  the  boat,  they  went  straggling  into  the 
"woods,  and  ere  long  were  discovered  by  a  party 
of  three  hundred  Indians.  These  Indians  were 
commanded  by  Opechancanough,  the  brother  of 
Powhatan.  The  crew  all  escaped  with  great 
difficulty,  except  one  man,  who  w^as  made  pris- 
oner. The  Indians  now  forced  him  to  tell  all 
that  he  knew,  and  particularly  where  Captain 
Smith  was,  and  then  put  him  to  death.  Follow- 
ing the  stream  in  search  of  him,  they  came,  be- 
fore a  great  while,  to  the  two  men  left  with  the 
canoe.  These  poor  fellows  were  sleeping  by  a 
fire  which  they  had  kindled,  and  were  instantly 
murdered.  Ere  long  they  discovered  Smith  in 
the  meadows,  and  immediately  let  fly  their  ar- 
rows at  him.  One  of  these  struck  him  in  the 
leg,  and  wounded  him  badly.  His  situation  was 
perilous  enough,  but  he  did  not  for  a  moment 


JOHN   SMITH.  63 

lose  his  presence  of  mind.  He  instantly  seized 
one  of  his  Indian  guides,  and  tied  him  with  his 
garter  to  his  left  arm.  This  man  h^  used  as  his 
shield ;  and  having  his  gun  wi^h  him,  he  kept  up 
a  fire  upon  them  as  fast  as  he  could.  Three  of 
them  fell  dead,  and  several  were  wounded.  For- 
tunately, his  gun  carried  farther  than  their  bows, 
and  they  kept  at  some  distance.  During  all  this 
time,  he  was  retreating  as  rapidly  as  he  could  to- 
ward the  canoe ;  but  watching  his  enemies,  and 
not  marking  his  footsteps,  he  w^ith  his  guide  sunk 
to  the  middle  in  a  hole  in  the  meadow,  and 
stuck  fast  in  the  mud.  His  courage  had  so 
amazed  the  Indians,  that  they  dared  not  approach 
him,  helpless  as  he  was,  and  incapable  now  of 
doing  them  any  injury.  At  last,  almost  dead 
with  cold,  he  threw  away  his  arms,  and  begged 
that  he  might  be  taken.  They  now  came  up, 
dragged  him  out,  and  led  him  to  the  fire.  Here 
he  saw  the  dead  bodies  of  his  two  countrymen, 
and  knew  at  once  what  would  probably  be  his 
fate.  Still  he  was  calm.  The  Indians  chafed 
his  cold  limbs,  and  he  now  called  for  their  chief 
Opechancanough.  Knowing  that  to  beg  for  his 
life  was  only  to  lose  it,  when  the  chief  came  be- 
fore him  he  drew  from  his  pocket  his  ivory 
compass  and  dial,  which  he  carried  to  guide  him 


64  JOHN   SMITH. 

in  his  wanderings,  and  presented  it  to  him.  The 
chief  and  his  people  were  greatly  pleased.  The 
motions  of  the  needle,  which  they  could  see  but 
not  touch,  delighted  and  astonished  them.  Smith 
had  been  in  the  country  long  enough  to  know 
something  of  then-  language,  and  marking  their 
feelings,  he  now  began  to  explain  to  them  the 
use  of  the  compass — the  discoveries  that  had  been 
made  by  means  of  it — to  talk  "  of  the  earth,  the 
skies,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  how  the  sun  did 
chase  the  night  round  about  the  world  continually, 
the  greatness  of  the  land  and  sea,  the  diversity  of 
nations,  variety  of  complexions,"*  &c.,  while  the 
savages  stood  amazed  with  admiration. 

In  a  little  time,  however,  their  astonishment 
was  over,  and  they  were  ready  to  execute  him. 
They  now  tied  him  to  a  tree,  and  prepared  with 
their  bows  and  arrows  to  despatch  him.  Just  at 
this  time,  the  chief  held  up  the  ivory  compass, 
the  savages  threw  down  their  arms,  and  forming 
themselves  into  a  military  procession,  led  the 
poor  captive  in  triumph  toward  their  village 
Orapaxe.  They  were  very  particular  in  arrang- 
ing the  order  of  this  triumphal  march.  They 
ranged  themselves  in  single  file,  their  chief  or 
king  being  in  the  midst,  and  before  hun  were 

*  Smith's  Virginia— Vol.  I.,  page  158. 


JOHN   SMITH.  65 

borne  the  swords  and  muskets  taken  from  Smith 
and  his  companions.  Next  to  the  chief  came 
Smith,  hekl  by  three  of  the  stoutest  of  their 
number,  aad  on  each  side  a  file  of  six  archers. 
When  they  arrived  at  the  village,  the  old  men, 
women,  and  children  came  out  to  meet  them, 
and  were  greatly  amazed  and  delighted  when 
they  saw  the  prisoner.  Some  strange  manoeu- 
vres were  now  performed  by  the  warriors,  and 
at  length  they  formed  themselves  into  a  circle 
around  Smith  and  their  chief,  and  commenced 
dancinsf  and  singino;.  Their  looks  and  sounds 
were  strange  enough  to  Smith.  They  were  all 
painted,  dressed  up  in  furs  and  feathers,  and  be- 
sides yelling,  made  a  great  noise  by  brandishing 
their  rattles,  which  were  made  of  the  tails  of  rat- 
tlesnakes. This  circular  dance  was  performed 
three  times,  and  Smith  was  then  conducted  to  a 
long  hut,  and  forty  men  placed  there  to  guard 
him.  Here  he  was  feasted  so  bountifully  with 
Indian  bread  and  venison,  that  he  began  to  think 
they  were  fattening  him  only  to  kill  and  devour  him. 
Kindness  will  win  the  heart  of  almost  any 
man,  and  Smith  now  perceived  the  effect  of  it 
upon  the  heart  of  a  savage.  One  of  the  Indians, 
to  whom  it  seems  he  had  formerly  given  some 
green  beads,  and  other  trifling  trinkets,  now  came, 
6* 


66  JOHN  sanTH. 

presenting  to  him  a  garment  of  furs,  to  protect 
him  from  the  cold.  The  name  of  this  man  was 
Maocassater,  and  it  deserves  to  be  remembered. 
Very  different  from  this  was  the  conduct  of 
another  Indian,  an  old  man,  who  tried  to  kill 
him,  because  his  son  was  dying.  Whether  it  was 
that  he  supposed  that  Smith,  by  some  enchant- 
ment, had  made  his  boy  sick,  or  whether  the  son 
had  been  wounded  in  battle,  we  are  not  told. 
At  all  events,  the  old  man's  revenge  was  curbed, 
and  the  prisoner  was  conducted  by  his  guard  to 
the  dying  youth.  He  now  told  them  that  he  had 
a  medicine,  at  Jamestown,  that  would  cure  him, 
if  they  would  allow  him  to  go  and  bring  it,  but 
this  they  refused  to  do.  They  were  unwilling 
to  part  with  him,  for  they  were  all  making 
ready  for  an  attack  upon  Jamestown,  and  cal- 
culated upon  great  assistance  from  him.  They 
needed  him  as  a  guide,  and  now  they  made 
large  offers  to  secure  his  services.  They  promised 
him  his  life,  liberty,  and  as  much  land  as  he 
should  wish  for,  if  he  would  only  aid  them.  Smith 
told  them  of  the  great  difficulty  of  the  under- 
taking, talked  to  them  of  the  guns,  mines,  and 
other  defences  of  the  place.  All  this  terrified 
them,  but  did  not  dissuade  them  from  their  in- 
tention.   He  was  now  permitted  to  write  a  note 


JOHN  SMITH. 


67 


to  Jamestown,  asking  for  the  medicine,  and 
some  other  things  that  he  desired,  and  some  of 
the  Indians  were  to  deliver  it.  Taking  advantage 
of  this,  he  tore  a  leaf  from  his  pocket-book,  and 
wrote  the  note,  asking  for  what  he  needed, 
telling  his  countrymen  of  his  situation,  of  the 
designs  of  the  savages,  and  the  best  way  of 
frightening  the  messengers,  when  they  should 
arrive  there.  Through  frost  and  snow  the  mes- 
sengers made  their  way,  and  ere  long  came  near 
Jamestow^n.  The  whites,  seeing  them,  sallied 
out  to  meet  them,  and  the  frightened  Indians, 
dropping  their  note,  ran  away.  At  night,  tak- 
ing courage,  they  returned,  and  discovered  all 
the  articles  which  Smith  had  sent  for,  on  the 
very  spot  w^here  he  told  them  they  would  find 
them.  Gathering  them  up,  they  now  returned 
homeward,  telling  their  countrymen  of  the  mar- 
vellous sights  that  they  had  seen ;  and  wonder- 
ing, most  of  all,  at  the  power  of  the  speaking 
leaf,  which  had  secured  for  Smith  the  articles 
sent  for. 

What  they  had  seen,  induced  the  savages  to 
give  up  the  thought  of  an  attack  upon  James- 
town, and  looking  upon  Smith  as  a  wonderful 
man,  they  now  led  him  about  the  country,  mak- 
ing a  show  of  hhn.     They  passed  with  him 


68  JOHN   SMITH. 

through  seTeral  tribes  of  Indians,  on  the  Rap- 
pahannoc  and  Potowmac  rivers,  and  at  length 
brought  him  to  Pamunkee,  the  home  of  Ope- 
chancanough.  Haltiiig  here,  they  performed  a 
strange  ceremony,  the  design  of  which  (as  they 
said)  was  to  find  out  whether  Smith's  feehngs 
toward  them  were  those  of  a  friend  or  enemy. 
The  ceremony  was  as  follows : 

"  Early  in  the  morning  a  great  fire  was  made 
in  a  long  house,  and  a  mat  spread,  on  the  one 
side  as  on  the  other;  on  the  one  they  caused 
him  to  sit,  and  all  the  guard  went  out  of  the 
house,  and  presently  came  skipping  in  a  great 
grim  fellow,  all  painted  over  with  coal,  mingled 
with  oil ;  and  many  snakes,  and  weasels'  skins, 
stuffed  with  moss,  and  all  their  tails  tied  together, 
so  as  they  met  on  the  crown  of  his  head  in  a 
tassel ;  and  round  about  the  tassel  was  a  coronet 
of  feathers,  the  skins  hanging  round  about  his 
head,  back,  and  shoulders,  and  in  a  manner 
covered  his  face;  with  a  hellish  voice,  and  a 
rattle  in  his  hand.  With  most  strange  gestures 
and  passions,  he  began  his  invocation,  and  en- 
vironed the  fire  with  a  circle  of  meal :  which 
done,  three  men,  like  devils,  came  lushing  in, 
with  the  like  antic  tricks,  painted  half  black, 
half  red;  but  all  their  eyes  were  painted  white 


JOHN   SMITH.  69 

and  some  red  strokes,  like  mustachios,  along 
their  cheeks :  round  about  him,  these  fiends 
danced  a  pretty  while,  and  then  came  in  three 
more  as  ugly  as  the  rest,  with  red  eyes  and  white 
strokes  over  their  black  faces ;  at  last  they  all 
sat  down  right  against  him  ;  three  of  them  on 
the  one  hand  of  the  chief  priest,  and  three  on 
the  other.  Then  all,  with  their  rattles,  began 
a  song ;  w^hich  ended,  the  chief  priest  laid  down 
five  wheat  corns :  then  straining  his  arms  and 
hands  with  such  violence  that  he  sweat,  and  his 
veins  swelled,  he  began  a  short  oration :  at  the 
conclusion,  they  all  gave  a  short  groan,  and 
then  laid  down  three  grains  more.  After  that 
began  their  song  again,  and  then  another  ora- 
tion, ever  laying  down  so  many  corns  as  before, 
till  they  had  twice  encircled  the  fire ;  that  done, 
they  took  a  bunch  of  little  sticks,  prepared  for 
that  purpose,  continuing  still  their  devotion,  and 
at  the  end  of  every  song  and  oration,  they  laid 
down  a  stick  between  the  divisions  of  corn.  Till 
night,  neither  he  nor  they  did  eat  or  drink,  and 
then  they  feasted  merrily,  with  the  best  pro- 
visions they  could  make.  Three  days  they  used 
this  ceremony  :  the  meaning  whereof,  they  told 
him,  was  to  know  if  he  intended  them  well  or 
no.     The  circle  of  meal  signified  the  country, 


70  JOHN  SMITH. 

the  circle  of  com  the  bounds  of  the  sea,  and  the 
sticks  his  country.  They  imagined  the  world  to 
be  flat  and  round,  like  a  trencher,  and  they  in 
the  midst."*  Smith,  of  course,  did  not  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  all  this,  nor  did  he  know, 
at  the  end  of  it,  whether  they  discovered  him  to 
be  a  friend  or  foe. 

This  ceremony  being  over,  they  brought  him 
a  bag  of  gunpowder,  telling  him  that  they 
should  mingle  it  with  their  corn,  and  plant  it  the 
next  season.  He  was  now  invited  by  Opitcha- 
pan  (one  of  the  brothers  of  Powhatan)  to  come 
and  visit  him.  He  went  to  his  home,  and  was 
welcomed  "with  platters  of  bread,  fowl,  and 
wild  beasts  3"  but,  as  usual,  not  one  of  the  savages 
would  eat  with  him.  After  this  they  brought 
him  to  Werowocomoco,  the  residence  of  their 
great  Emperor  Powhatan 

•  Smith's  Virginia,  vol.  i.  page  161. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Smith  is  received  by  Powhatan  in  great  state — 
The  savages  propose  to  kill  him — His  life  is 
saved  by  the  Princess  Pocahontas — He  is  re- 
leased and  returns  to  Jamestown — Troubles  at 
Jamestown — He  soon  restores  order — Kindness 
of  Pocahontas — Arrival  of  Captain  Js'^ewport, 
in  1607 — His  visit  to  Powhatan — Strange 
trajjicking — Fire  at  Jamestown — Sufferings 
in  the  colony — J\''ewport  sails  homeward — 
Smith  rebuilds  the  town — Arrival  of  Captain 
Jfelson — Disturbance  between  Smith  and  Pow- 
hatan— Bold  conduct  of  Smith — Peace  is  re- 
stored— JSfelson  sails  for  England. 

Werowocomoco,  the  home  of  Powhatan,  is 
stated  to  have  been  "  on  the  north  side  of  York 
River,  in  Gloucester  county,  about  twenty-five 
miles  below  the  fork  of  the  river."  When 
Smith  arrived  in  this  village,  more  than  two 
hundred  savages  came  around  him,  gazing  at 
him  as  "  though  he  had  been  a  monster."  He 
was  not  yet  brought  into  the  presence  of  their 


72  JOHN   SMITH. 

chief,  until  due  preparations  had  been  made 
for  receiving  him.  All  being  ready,  he  at 
length  came  before  Powhatan.  In  a  long  hut, 
m  the  midst  of  which  there  was  a  large  fire,  he 
found  him  seated  upon  a  sort  of  throne,  while 
his  two  young  daughters  sat  on  either  side  of 
him.  He  was  dressed  in  a  heavy  robe  of  rac- 
coon skins.  On  each  side  of  the  hut  there  were 
two  rows  of  men,  and  behind  them  as  many 
women,  with  their  heads  and  shoulders  painted 
red.  Some  had  their  heads  decked  off  with  the 
white  down  of  birds,  and  some  had  strings  of 
white  beads  around  their  necks.  When  Smith 
came  in,  .they  all  gave  a  great  shout.  The 
queen  of  Apamatox  brought  him  water  to  wash 
his  hands — while  another  damsel  brought  him  a 
bunch  of  feathers,  to  serve  as  a  towel  to  dry 
them.  After  this,  they  feasted  him  with  their 
best  provisions,  and  then  they  consulted  among 
themselves,  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  him 
Smith  soon  understood  his  fate,  when,  at  the 
end  of  this  consultation,  two  large  stones  were 
brought  in,  placed  before  Powhatan,  and  he 
seized  and  dragged  toward  them.  His  head 
was  laid  upon  them,  and  now  the  savages  raised 
their  clubs  to  beat  out  his  brains.  The  king's 
daughter,  Pocahontas,  (it  seems,)  had  entreated 


JOHN    SMITH.  73 

that  bis  life  might  be  spared,  but  all  her  en- 
treaties had  proved  useless.  Just  at  this  mo- 
ment, she  rushed  toward  the  captive,  folded  his 
head  in  her  arms,  and  laid  her  own  upon  it.  In 
an  instant  more,  poor  Smith  Avould  have  been 
despatched.  The  king's  heart  was  now^  soften- 
ed :  he  consented  that  the  prisoner  should  hve, 
to  make  hatchets  for  him,  and  bells  and  beads 
for  his  daughter. 

"Whether  farther  entreaties  of  Pocahontas  pre- 
vailed or  not,  we  are  not  told ;  but  certain  it  is, 
that  in  a  little  time  the  king  w^as  even  more 
generous  to  the  prisoner.  Two  days  after  this, 
he  caused  Smith  to  be  carried  to  "  a  great  house 
in  the  woods,"  and  there  to  be  left,  seated  alone 
apon  a  mat,  before  a  large  fire.  "  Not  long 
.ifte;,  f:oro  behind  a  mat  that  divided  the  house, 
vzs  ir.dde  the  most  doleful  noise  he  ever  heard  :" 
.-ind  in  rushed  Powhatan,  painted  black,  and 
disguised  "  in  a  fearful  manner,"  followed  by 
two  hundred  other  savages,  as  black  as  him- 
self. The  chief  now  told  him  that  they  were 
friends,  and  that  he  might  return  to  Jamestown. 
He  had  but  one  favor  to  ask  of  him,  which  was, 
that  he  would  send  him  "  two  great  guns,  and 
a  grindstone,"  and  he  promised,  in  return,  to 
*^give  him  the  country  of  Capahowosick,  and 
7 


74  JOHN   SMITH. 

to  esteem  him  for  ever  as  his  son,  JVantaqmud.'' 
So,  with  twelve  guides,  Smith  was  started  home- 
ward. Night  came  on,  and  "  they  quartered  in 
the  woods.  Smith  expecting  (as  he  had  done  all 
this  long  time  of  his  imprisonment)  every  hour 
to  be  put  to  one  death  or  other ;  but  Almighty 
God  (by  his  divine  providence)  had  mollified  the 
hearts  of  those  stern  Barbarians  with  compassion." 
Early  the  next  morning  they  reached  James- 
town, and  Smith  treated  his  guides  with  great 
hospitality.  He  now  shewed  to  Rawhunt,  the 
trusty  servant  of  Powhatan,  (who  was  one  of 
the  guides,)  the  two  large  guns  and  the  grind- 
stone for  his  master.  The  Indians  tried  to  lift 
them,  but  found  they  were  too  hea\7.  Smith 
now  had  the  guns  loaded  with  stones,  and  dis- 
charo-ed  at  a  tree  covered  wdth  icicles.  The 
loud  report,  and  the  rattling  of  the  icicles,  fright- 
ened the  savages,  and  they  ran  away.  In  a  ht- 
tle  time,  however,  they  came  back,  and  after 
being  loaded  with  trinkets  and  other  presents, 
for  Powhatan  and  his  daughter,  they  left  him. 

It  was  well  that  Smith  came  home  just  at 
this  time.  His  presence,  of  course,  had  been 
missed,  and  all  was  now  confusion  at  James- 
town. The  men  had  got  to  quarieUing,  and  a 
large  party  had  seized  the  pinnace   determined 


JOHN  SMITH.  75 

to  leave  the  country.  At  the  risk  of  his  hfe  once 
more,  he  checked  this  plot.  He  brought  his 
guns  to  bear,  and  threatened  to  sink  the  pin- 
nace, if  they  attempted  to  move  off.  Inflamed 
with  anger,  these  discontented  men  (the  presi- 
dent among  the  number)  now  conspired  against 
his  life.  They  said  he  deserved  to  die,  because 
he  had  caused  the  death  of  the  two  poor  fellows 
who  had  been  murdered  at  the  canoe,  in  the 
meadows.  Their  design  proved  idle,  for  they 
knew  in  their  hearts  that  he  was  an  innocent 
man,  and  they  soon  had  the  worst  of  this  effort; 
for  we  are  told,  "  he  quickly  took  such  order 
with  such  lawyers,  that  he  laid  them  by  the 
heels,  till  he  sent  some  of  them  prisoners  for 
England." 

After  this  a  better  spirit  soon  prevailed.  Smith 
now  cheered  his  countrymen,  by  telling  them  of 
the  rich  domains  of  Powhatan,  the  plentiful 
supplies  that  might  be  obtained  there,  and  the 
great  kindness  and  liberality  of  the  chief.  He 
spoke,  too,  of  the  generosity  of  Pocahontas,  and 
what  aid  they  might  expect  from  her.  They 
soon  learned  for  themselves  to  understand  her 
fidelity.  From  time  to  time,  she  would  come, 
with  her  train  of  female  attendants,  to  James- 
town, bringing  them  stores  of  provisions  to  re- 


76  JOHN   SMITH. 

lieve  their  wants.  Smith  had  made  warm  friends, 
also,  of  other  Indians.  The  savages  would  now 
come  in  bringing  presents  to  him,  and  trading 
with  him  at  such  prices  as  he  fixed.  ]\Iany  of 
them  had  learned  (it  is  said)  to  look  upon  him 
as  a  supernatural  being. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1607,  two  ships 
sailed  from  England  to  the  colony — the  one 
commanded  by  their  old  friend  Captain  New- 
port, the  other  by  Captain  Nelson.  Nelson,  (it 
appears,)  after  coming  as  far  as  Cape  Henry, 
had  his  ship  dismasted,  and  contrary  winds  now 
drove  him  in  distress  to  the  West  Indies.  New- 
port, more  fortunate,  arrived  in  safety.  It  hap- 
pened, that  Smith  had  predicted  his  arrival  about 
this  time,  and  while  the  colonists  of  course  were 
happy  upon  his  return,  the  Indians  looked  upon 
Smith  as  a  prophet.  They  knew  that  Smith 
w^orshipped  the  God  "  who  created  all  things," 
and  now  they  would  talk  of  the  "  God  of  Captain 
Smith." 

Whether  it  was  that  some  of  the  council  were 
foolishly  jealous  of  Smith's  influence  over  the 
Indians,  or  whe^er  it  was  only  imprudence, 
certain  it  is,  that  they  were  in  the  strange  habit 
of  giving  the  Indians  higher  prices  for  their  ar- 
ticles than  Smith  had  fixed  ;  and  now,  when  the 


JOHN   SMITH.  77 

sailors  arrived,  they  were  allowed  to  trade  with 
the  savages  just  as  they  pleased.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  it  was  soon  found  impossible  to 
obtain  as  much  for  a  pound  of  copper,  as  had 
been  before  procured  for  an  ounce.  Newport, 
too,  in  sailor-like  style,  was  very  lavish  in  his 
dealings  with  the  natives,  and  especially  in 
making  rich  presents  to  Powhatan,  w^hom  he 
desired  to  impress  with  an  idea  of  his  greatness 
The  arrival  of  the  ship,  therefore,  made  some 
little  trouble. 

Smith  had  talked  much  of  Newport,  and  his 
conversations,  together  with  the  presents,  had 
made  Powhatan  very  desirous  of  seeing  him  again. 
The  boat  was  therefore  now  made  ready,  and 
Captain  Smith,  Captain  Newport,  and  a  Mr. 
Scrivener,  (a  gentleman  who  had  come  out  on 
the  last  voyage  of  Newport,  and  was  now  a 
member  of  the  council,)  together  with  a  guard 
of  forty  chosen  men,  started  on  a  visit  to  the 
chief.  When  they  arrived  at  Werowocomoco, 
Newport,  w^ho  was  unacquainted  with  the  coun- 
try, began  to  suspect  treachery  on  the  part  of  the 
savages.  This  place,  you  know,  had  been  the 
home  of  Powhatan,  but  thinking  it  too  near  to 
the  English,  he  had  removed  now  to  the  village 
Orapaxe.  Smith  tried  to  convince  him  that  his 
7^ 


78  JOHN   SMITH. 

fears  were  idle,  but  finding  it  impossible,  under- 
took with  twenty  men  to  go  on  alone.  But  he 
began  ere  long  to  suspect  mischief  himself.  He 
had  to  pass  many  creeks  and  streams,  and  find- 
ing the  bridges  over  these  to  be  made  only  of 
poles,  with  bark  thrown  over  them  loosely,  sup- 
posed that  they  might  be  only  traps  or  snares  for 
the  white  men.  It  seems,  however,  that  he  had 
some  Indian  guides,  and  he  made  them  pass  over 
first,  to  assure  himself  of  safety.  Thus  he  passed 
on,  until  he  was  at  length  met  by  a  party  of 
three  hundred  savages,  who  kindly  conducted 
him  to  the  home  of  the  chief  Entering  the 
village,  he  was  received  with  great  shouts  of  joy, 
and  then  a  splendid  feast  was  prepared  for  him. 
Powhatan  again  received  him  in  great  state. 
Smith  found  him  clothed  in  a  fine  robe  of  skins, 
seated  "  upon  his  bed  of  mats,  his  pillow  of 
leather  embroidered  after  their  rude  manner, 
with  pearl  and  white  beads,"  while  "  at  his  head 
and  feet  sat  a  handsome  young  woman."  Other 
women  stood  around,  having  their  heads  and 
shoulders  painted  red,  and  strings  of  white  beads 
hanging  about  their  necks.  Before  these  sat 
"  some  of  his  chiefest  men."  He  was  welcomed 
heartily  by  the  chief,  as  an  old  friend.  A  guard 
of  five  hundred  men  was  appointed  to  attend 


JOHN   SMITH.  79 

upon  him,  and  the  king's  proclamation  was  is- 
sued, that  no  Indian  should  do  harm  to  Smith  or 
any  of  his  followers,  under  penalty  of  death. 
Then  the  savages  commenced  anew  their  feast- 
ing, with  dancing  and  singing ;  and  when  night 
came,  the  party  quartered  with  Powhatan. 

The  next  day  Captain  Newport  arrived,  and 
was  also  treated  with  great  kindness.  He  had 
with  him  an  English  boy,  named  Thomas  Sal- 
vage, whom  he  gave  to  Powhatan,  calhng 
him  his  son.  In  return,  Powhatan  gave 
him  JVamoiitack,  one  of  his  trusty  servants. 
Now  they  commenced  again  their  dancing  and 
feasting.  Three  or  four  days  were  spent  in  this 
way,  together  with  trading,  for  Newport  had 
brought  along  with  him  many  articles  of  traffic. 
Powhatan  bore  himself  like  a  chief,  and  the 
whites  admired  him  very  much ;  but  before  the 
visit  was  over,  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  cunning 
old  man,  and  would  have  outwitted  them  all,  but 
for  the  superior  cunning  of  Captain  Smith.  I 
will  tell  you  of  his  stratagem. 

While  Newport  was  trading  with  him,  the  old 
chief  became  greatly  dissatisfied,  at  what  he 
thought  bargaining  and  trafficking  in  a  small 
way.  He  said  therefore  to  him,  "  Captain  New- 
port, it  is  not  agreeable  to  my  greatness,  in  this 


80  JOHN   SMITH. 

peddling  manner  to  trade  for  trifles ;  and  1  es- 
teem you  also  a  great  Werowance.  Therefore, 
lay  me  down  all  your  commodities  together : 
what  I  like  I  will  take,  and  in  recompense  give 
you  what  I  think  fitting  their  value."  Captain 
Smith  was  acting  as  interpreter  between  them, 
and  seeing  at  once  the  cunning  of  the  chief,  ad- 
vised Newport  not  to  agree  to  it.  But  Newport, 
desirous  of  making  a  display,  and  thinking  he 
could  manage  the  matter  himself,  immediately 
consented,  and  spread  out  all  his  wares.  Pow- 
hatan instantly  selected  such  articles  as  pleased 
him,  but  when  he  came  to  making  payment  for 
them,  set  such  a  high  value  upon  his  corn,  that 
Newport  did  not  receive  four  bushels  "  where  he 
expected  twenty  hogsheads."  Smith  was  natu- 
rally enough  provoked  at  Newport's  folly,  and 
determined  that,  if  possible,  the  savage  should 
be  no  gainer  by  it.  He  now  took  out  some 
wares  of  his  own  :  among  other  things,  some 
blue  glass  beads,  which,  as  if  accidentally,  he 
placed  where  Powhatan  might  see  them.  The 
king  was  at  once  struck  with  them,  and  greatly 
desired  to  have  them.  But  Smith  could  not  con- 
sent to  part  with  them.  They  were  made  (he 
said)  '"'  of  a  rare  substance  of  the  color  of  the 
skies,  and  not  to  be  worn  but  by  the  greatest 


JOHN   SMITH.  81 

kings  in  the  world."  This  only  increased  the 
desire  of  the  chief:  but  the  more  he  longed  for 
them,  the  more  unwilling  was  Smith  to  let  them 
go.  At  last,  as  a  favor,  he  allowed  the  king  to 
trade  for  some  of  them,  and  now,  for  his  glass 
beads,  he  received  two  or  three  hundred  bushels 
of  corn.  After  this,  they  parted  good  friends, 
and  the  party  went  off  to  see  Opechancanough, 
king  of  Pamunke.  Here  they  made  another 
good  bargain  with  their  blue  beads.  Indeed, 
blue  beads  became  now  of  such  high  value,  that 
they  were  all  bought  up  at  almost  any  price,  and 
none  but  the  kings,  their  wives,  or  their  daugh- 
ters allowed  to  wear  them. 

They  now  returned  to  Jamestown,  well  laden 
with  provisions.  Scarcely,  however,  had  they 
stored  them  away,  when  unfortunately  a  fire 
broke  out  in  the  town,  and  consumed  well 
nigh  everything.  Their  houses,  made  of  wood, 
and  thatched  with  reeds  and  straw,  were  like 
tinder  for  the  flames,  and  quantities  of  arms, 
bedding,  clothing,  and  provisions  were  alike  de- 
stroyed. In  this  fire,  their  clergyman,  Mr.  Hunt, 
"  lost  all  his  library,  and  all  he  had  but  the 
clothes  on  his  back,  yet  none  ever  heard  him 
repine  at  his  loss."  Indeed,  most  of  the  colonists 
appear  to  have  borne  the  calamity  as  well  as 


82  JOHN   SMITH. 

could  have  been  expected.  They  saved  "what 
provisions  they  could  from  the  flames,  and  by 
prudent  management,  there  might  still  have  been 
enough  for  present  wants,  but  for  the  delay  of  the 
ship.  Instead  of  returning  homeward  promptly, 
Newport  and  his  crew  were  seized  with  a  "  gold 
fever."  They  were  busy  every  day  in  digging 
the  earth,  and  loading  the  ship  Avith  what  they 
thought  so  much  treasure.  Thus  they  delayed  sail- 
ino;  for  fourteen  weeks,  durino-  all  which  time  there 
were  of  course  so  many  more  mouths  to  be  filled 
in  the  colony.  Smith  and  Scrivener  were  both 
sensible  men,  and  looked  upon  all  this  search  for 
gold  as  idle;  but  still  they  could  not  induce 
Newport  to  leave  earlier.  At  length  the  ship 
w^as  ready  to  sail,  and  the  poor  half-starving  set- 
tlement had  to  furnish  supplies  ere  she  could 
move  off.  They  w^ere  furnished  cheerfully,  for 
her  departure  was  regarded  as  a  blessing.  Wing- 
field  and  Archer,  too,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  de- 
cent part  of  the  colony,  were  sent  home  in  her. 
Upon  reduced  allowances,  their  sufferings  now 
increased.  The  winter  was  a  very  severe  one, 
many  of  the  men  houseless,  and  though  Smith 
did  all  that  he  could  for  their  relief,  before  the 
cold  season  was  ended,  more  than  half  of  them 
had  died. 


JOHN   SMITH.  83 

As  the  spring  approached,  Smith  and  Scriv* 
ener  set  resolutely  to  the  work  of  rebuilding 
Jamestown.  A  new  church  was  erected,  the 
storehouse  and  pahsadoes  were  repaired,  and 
new  dwelling-houses  put  up.  The  fields,  too, 
were  prepared  under  their  direction,  and  corn 
was  planted.  While  they  were  engaged  in  all 
this,  to  their  surprise.  Captain  Nelson  arrived  in 
the  Phoenix,  from  the  West  Indies.  He  had 
spent  his  winter  there,  (after  being  driven,  as 
you  will  remember,  from  the  coast  of  Virginia,) 
and  now,  to  their  great  joy,  came  laden  with  am- 
ple provisions  for  the  colony,  for  six  months. 

Nelson  was  a  man  of  good  spirit ;  his  heart 
was  touched  with  the  sorrows  of  his  country- 
men, and  he  kindly  served  them  in  any  way  that 
he  could.  He  moved  freely  among  them,  en- 
couraging them  by  his  words  and  actions,  and 
rousing  their  drooping  spirits.  In  this  way  he 
succeeded  in  awakening  a  spirit  of  enterprise, 
even  in  the  inefficient  president;  for  he  now 
urged  Smith  "  to  discover  and  search  the  com- 
modities of  the  Monacan's  country,  beyond  the 
falls  of  James  river,"  that  he  might  profitably 
relade  the  ship  for  a  return  homeward.  Sixty 
men  were  allotted  to  him  for  this  adventure, 
and  in  six  days,  Smith  had  so  drilled  them  to 


84  JOHN    SMITH. 

their  arms,  that  they  were  ready  for  the  enter- 
prise. He  was  for  loading  the  vessel  with  cedar, 
while  Martin  and  some  others,  were  foolishly  in- 
tent upon  filling  her  also  with  "  golden  dirt." 
Just  as  he  was  about  starting,  a  difficulty  oc- 
curred, which  kept  him  at  home.  The  difficulty 
was  this. 

When  Newport  was  on  the  point  of  starting, 
Powhatan  had  sent  him  as  a  present,  twenty 
turkeys,  and  in  return,  asked  that  he  might  re- 
ceive twenty  swords.  Newport  had  imprudent- 
ly given  them  to  him ;  and  now  the  chief  sent  a 
like  present  to  Smith,  making  a  similar  demand. 
Smith  refused  to  meet  it,  and  the  chief  set  his 
men  at  once  upon  various  stratagems,  to  seize 
the  arms  of  the  colonists.  Sometimes  they 
would  enter  Jamestown,  and  take  them  by  force, 
or  steal  them — then  they  would  surprise  the 
men  at  their  work,  and  annoy  them  in  every 
possible  way.  Notwithstanding  this  insolence, 
nothing  was  done  in  return,  until  they  meddled 
with-  Smith.  The  colonists  had  orders  from 
home,  to  keep  peace  with  Powhatan  and  his 
people,  and  they  were  desirous  of  obeying.  But 
their  insolence  had  now  touched  him,  and  Smith 
at  once  "  took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands." 
He  saUied  out  with  a  party,  seized  some  of 


JOHN   SMITH.  85 

the  Indians  and  whipped  them,  and  then  re^ 
turned,  bringing  with  him  seven  prisoners,  as 
hostages  for  their  good  behavior.  But  good 
behavior  was  not  in  them.  They,  in  return, 
finding  two  straggling  soldiers,  seized  them  as 
prisoners:  and  now"  they  advanced  ahnost  to 
the  fort,  in  strong  numbers,  demanding  their 
seven  countrymen,  and  threatening  immediate 
death  to  the  whites,  if  they  were  not  dehvered  up. 
Smith  instantly  sallied  out  amongst  them  again, 
and,  in  less  than  an  hour,  so  completely  cured 
their  insolence,  that  they  surrendered  the  two 
wtoe  men,  and  were  glad  to  sue  for  peace.  In 
making  terms  of  peace,  he  forced  them  to 
tell  their  intentions.  They  declared,  that  what 
they  had  done  was  by  order  of  Powhatan,  and 
that  his  design  was  to  get  possession  of  their 
weapons,  that  he  might  destroy  the  whites. 
Powhatan  soon  finding  his  plans  discovered,  sent 
his  favorite  daughter,  Pocahontas,  with  presents 
to  Smith,  begging  that  he  would  excuse  all  in- 
juries that  might  have  been  done  by  any  of  his 
"  untoward  subjects,"  and  assuring  him  of  his 
love  for  ever.  But  Smith  was  not  to  be  deceived 
in  this  w^ay.  He  punished  the  savages,  there- 
fore, as  he  thought  they  deserved;  and  then 
delivered  up  the  prisoners,  declaring,  that  it 
8 


86  JOHN   SMITH. 

was  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  princess  that  he 
spared  their  lives. 

The  Council,  fearful  that  all  this  might  make 
an  enemy  of  Powhatan,  were  dissatisfied  with 
Smith;  but  in  a  httle  time. they  perceived  their 
error.  The  truth  was,  it  was  the  only  w^ay  of 
teaching  the  savages  not  to  molest  the  settle- 
ment; and  when  they  soon  after  discovered, 
that  instead  of  "  having  peace  and  war  twice 
in  a  day,"  (as  had  been  the  case  for  some  time,) 
they  enjoyed  uninterrupted  quiet,  they  were  per- 
fectly contented. 

The  ship  was  soon  sent  home,  laden  with 
cedar,  as  Smith  advised ;  and  Martin,  instead  of 
loading  her  with  "  golden  dirt,"  as  he  desired, 
was  himself  allowed  to  return  home  in  her.  He 
had  proved  himself  to  be  a  weak  and  almost 
useless  man  in  the  colony,  and  they  were  well 
pleased  at  his  departure. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  adventures  of  Captain  Smith  during  two 
voyages  made  in  an  open  boat ^  for  the  purpose 
of  exploring  Chesapeake  Bay, 

Order  being  somewhat  restored.  Smith  now 
prepared   for   further  adventures.     His   design 
was  to  explore  the  lands  on  Chesapeake  Bay, 
and  become   acquainted  with   the  inhabitants. 
As  the  ship  hoisted  sail,  therefore,  on  the  second 
day  of  June,  with  fourteen  men  he  embarked  in 
an  open  barge,   and  moved  down  the   river. 
Parting  with  the   ship  at   Cape  Henry,   they 
passed  directly  across  the   mouth  of  the  bay, 
and  discovered,  to  the  east  of  Cape  Charles,  a 
group  of  islands,  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
of  "  Smith's  Isles:'    This  name,  I  believe,  they 
still  bear.     Soon  after,  in  turning  the  last  men- 
tioned cape,  they  saw  two  savages,  who  boldly 
demanded  who  they  were,  and  what  they  came 
for.     Presently  they  seemed  more  friendly,  and 
directed  them  to  Accomack,  the  home  of  their 


88  JOHN   SMITH. 

chief.  Upon  reaching  him,  they  were  received 
with  great  kindness.  Leaving  him,  they  coasted 
along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  bay,  "  searching 
every  inlet  fit  for  harbors  and  habitations." 
Sometimes  they  landed  upon  the  main  land,  and 
then  upon  the  low  islands  which  skirted  the 
shores,  to  one  group  of  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  "  RussePs  Isles/^  in  honor  of  Doctor 
Russel,  their  surgeon.  This  group  is  now  known, 
I  think,  by  the  name  of  the  Tangier  Islands. 
Suffering  now  for  a  supply  of  fresh  water,  they 
procured  such  as  they  could,  and  moving  still 
farther  north,  were  ere  long,  as  they  came  near 
another  group  of  islands,  visited  by  a  violent 
tempest.  Their  mast  and  sail  were  blown  over- 
board, and  with  great  labor  they  kept  their 
barge  from  sinking.  These  islands,  now  known 
as  Watt's  Islands,  received  from  them  the  strange 
name  of  Limho,  on  account  of  their  disaster 
Here  they  were  forced  to  remain  two  days.  At 
length,  the  storm  abated,  and  having  repair- 
ed the  sail  with  their  shirts,  they  passed  over 
to  the  eastern  shore,  and  entered  the  river 
Wicomico.  The  natives,  seeing  them,  "  ran 
amazed  in  troops  from  place  to  place,  and 
divers  got  into  the  tops  of  trees."  Regarding 
them  as  enemies,  they  discharged  volleys  of  ar- 


JOHN   SMITH.  89 

rows  at  them,  but  the  barge  was  anchored  too 
far  from  them,  to  suffer  any  injury.  The  next 
day  the  party  landed,  and  entering  their  deserted 
huts,  left  copper  trinkets,  beads,  and  looking- 
glasses.  When  the  savages  found  these,  they 
were  greatly  pleased,  and- soon  became  friendly. 
Here,  upon  this  river,  we  are  told,*  lived  "  the 
people  of  Sarapinagh,  Nause,  Arseek,  and  Nan- 
taquak,  the  best  merchants  of  all  other  sav- 
ages." 

"  Finding  this  eastern  shore  shallow  broken 
isles,  and  for  most  part  without  fresh  water," 
they  determined  to  pass  over  to  the  western 
shore  of  the  bay.  Proceeding  some  distance 
further  north  without  discovering  any  thing 
remarkable,  they  crossed,  and  came  coasting 
down  the  western  side,  marking  all  the  creeks 
and  rivers.  To  the  first  large  river  which  they 
entered  on  this  side,  they  gave  the  name  of 
Bolus,  because  "  the  clay,  in  many  places,  did 
grow  up  in  red  and  white  knots,  as  gum  out  of 
trees,"  which  made  them  "think  it  hole  am- 
moniac.^^  The  river  is  now  known  by  the  Indian 
name  Patapsco.  Here  the  crew  commenced 
murmuring.  Their  bread  had  been  damaged  by 
the  rain;  in  an  open  boat,  exposed  to  all  weather, 

*  Smith's  Virginia,  vol.  i.  page  175. 

8* 


90  JOHN  SMITH. 

they  had  spent  twelve  or  fourteen  days  toiling 
at  the  oar,  and  they  now  urged  Smith  to  return 
homeward.  But  he  was  for  making  farther 
discoveries,  and  answered  them  in  the  following 
words,  which  at  once  shew  his  spirit  and  reso- 
lution : — 

"  Gentlemen,  if  you  would  remember  the 
memorable  history  of  Sir  Ralph  Lane,  how  his 
company  importuned  him  to  proceed  in  the  dis- 
covery of  ^loratico,  alleging  they  had  yet  a 
dog,  that  being  boiled  with  sassafras  leaves, 
would  richly  feed  them  in  their  return  :  then 
what  a  shame  would  it  be  for  you,  (that  have 
been  so  suspicious  of  my  tenderness,)  to  force 
me  to  return,  with  so  much  provision  as  we 
have,  and  scarce  able  to  say  where  we  have 
been,  nor  yet  heard  of  that  we  were  sent  to 
seek  1  You  cannot  say  but  I  have  shared  with 
you  in  the  worst  which  is  past;  and  for  what 
is  to  come  of  lodging,  diet,  or  whatsoever,  I  am 
contented  you  allot  the  worst  part  to  myself. 
And  for  your  fears,  that  I  will  lose  myself  in 
these  unknown  large  waters,  or  be  swallowed 
up  in  some  stormy  gust :  abandon  these  childish 
fears,  for  worse  than  is  past  is  not  likely  to  happen, 
and  there  is  as  much  danger  to  return  as  to  pro- 
ceed.   Regam,  therefore,  your  old  spirits,  for  re- 


JOHN   SMITH.  91 

turn  I  will  not,  (if  God  please,)  tiP  I  have  seen 
the  Massavv'omeks,  found  Patawomek,  or  the 
head  of  this  water  you  conceit  to  be  endless."* 
Some  of  the  discontented  were  now  ashamed, 
Dut  others  who  w^ere  half  sick,  still  complain- 
ed, and  to  please  them,  Smith  reluctantly 
started  homeward.  Passing  southwardly,  ere 
long  they  fell  in  with  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Potomac.  As  the  stream  came  rolling  broad 
and  beautiful  into  the  bay,  the  spirits  of  the  men 
revived,  and  now  they  "  were  all  content  to 
take  some  pains  to  know  the  name  of  that  seven 
mile  broad  stream."  They  sailed  thirty  miles 
up  the  river,  without  finding  any  inhabitants.  At 
length,  seeing  two  savages,  they  w^ere  conducted 
by  them  up  a  little  creek,  where  they  soon  dis- 
covered multitudes  of  the  natives.  The  truth  was, 
it  was  an  ambuscade.  Three  or  four  thousand 
savages  were  lying  in  wait  here,  ready  to  in- 
snare  them ;  and  now  they  came  forward  with 
hideous  yells,  making  threatening  gestures  to- 
ward them.  Smith  was  not  frightened,  but  pre- 
pared very  coolly  for  an  encounter.  As  an  an- 
swer to  their  threats,  he  commanded  his  men  to 
discharge  their  muskets  over  the  w^ater.  This 
was  sufficient.     The  grazing  of  the  balls  upon 

•  Smith's  Virginia,  vol.  i.  pages  176,  177. 


92  JOHN    SMITH. 

the  water,  and  the  loud  echo  of  the  report 
through  the  woods,  terrified  the  natives.  They 
threw  down  theu*  bows  and  arrows,  sued  for 
peace,  and  at  once  exchanged  hostages.  James 
Watkins  (one  of  Smith's  party)  was  now  sent 
six  miles  higher  up,  to  the  residence  of  their 
king.  In  a  little  time  these  Indians  became  un- 
usually friendly,  and  frankly  told  Smith  thwr 
whole  plan.  They  had  for  some  time  been  ^'- 
ing  in  wait  for  the  party,  in  the  hope  of  cutting 
them  off.  To  this  deed  they  had  been  excited 
by  Powhatan,  who  had  heard  of  Smith's  in- 
tended expedition  up  the  bay,  through  some  of 
the  worthless  and  discontented  men  at  James- 
town. These  miserable  men,  because  Smith 
had  prevented  them  from  deserting  the  colony, 
had  thus,  in  revenge,  attempted  a  plot  for  his 
destruction. 

They  now  moved  up  the  river  as  far  as  their 
boat  would  float.  In  their  progress  they  some- 
times met  Indian  canoes,  laden  with  bear's  any 
deer's  flesh,  and  readily  obtained  supplies ;  then 
again  they  would  fall  in  with  hostile  and  threat- 
ening savages,  or  others  whose  character  then 
doubted ;  but  Smith's  prudence  and  courage  were 
ample  always  for  this  kmd  of  difliculty.  He 
had  one  regular  mode  of  proceeding.     \\'lien  he 


JOHN   SMITH.  93 

met  the  savages,  he  always  put  on  a  bold  face : 
if  they  seemed  to  desire  peace,  he  would  at 
once  demand  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  one 
or  two  of  their  children,  as  pledges  for  their  sin- 
cerity. If  they  complied  with  the  demand,  he 
regarded  them  as  friends ;  if  they  refused,  they 
were  looked  upon  as  enemies,  and  treated  ac- 
cordingly. 

Having  frequently  heard  of  a  rich  mine  in 
this  neighborhood,  Smith  determined  to  visit 
it.  An  Indian  guide  was  procured,  and  in  a 
little  time  some  of  the  party  reached  it.  They 
commenced  digging  the  earth,  and  soon  filled 
several  bags  with  just  such  stuff  as  Newport  had 
taken  home  for  so  much  silver  ore,  but  w^hich 
proved  utterly  worthless.  The  Indians  thought 
much  of  this  mine.  It  produced  a  substance 
*'  like  antimony,"  which,  after  washing,  they 
used  as  paint,  to  beautify  themselves  and  their 
idols.  This  paint  (w^e  are  told)  only  "  made 
them  look  like  blackamoors,  dusted  over  with 
silver,"  but  they  thought  it  very  beautiful.  The 
party,  though  they  discovered  no  mineral  trea- 
sures, found  some  profit  in  this  adventure,  for 
they  returned  to  the  barge  w^ell  laden  with  ot- 
ter's, 1  ear'?,  and  martin's  skins,  which  they  ob- 
tained  from    a    straggling    party   of  savages. 


94  JOHN    SMITH. 

They  now  came  down  the  Potomac,  seeing  no- 
thing farther,  worthy  of  remark,  except  the  great 
quantities  of  fish  in  the  water. 

The  men  being  now  in  better  humor,  Smith 
was  in  no  hurry  to  return  homeward,  and 
therefore  resolved  to  move  up  the  Rappahan- 
nock, and  visit  his  old  Indian  acquaintances, 
where  he  had  once  been  in  captivity.  As  the 
barge  came  near  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  she 
ran  aground,  and  while  they  were  waiting  for 
the  flood  tide  to  take  her  off*,  the  men  amused 
themselves  by  catching  fish  in  a  curious  way. 
Quantities  of  them  had  been  left  by  the  tide  upon 
the  flats,  and  sticking  them  with  the  points  of 
their  swords,  they  "  took  more  in  an  hour  than 
they  could  eat  in  a  day."  Sporting  in  this  way, 
Smith  met  w^ith  an  accident,  which  alarmed  him 
and  all  his  friends,  and  at  once  gave  a  name  to 
the  place,  w^hich  it  still  bears.  Having  stuck 
his  sword  into  a  stingray,  (a  curious  fish,  with 
a  long  tail,  having  stings  at  the  end  of  it,)  the 
fish  raised  his  tail,  and  struck  him  on  the  wrist. 
No  blood  followed  the  w^ound,  but  in  a  little 
time  he  was  seized  with  the  most  violent  pain, 
and  in  four  hours,  his  hand,  arm,  and  shoulder 
were  so  much  swollen,  that  Smith  himself,  as 
well  a^  his  companions,  supposed  he  was  dying 


JOHN   SMITH.  95 

With  great  calmness,  he  directed  where  they 
should  bury  his  body,  and  with  sorrowful  hearts 
they  '^  prepared  his  grave  in  an  island  hard  by." 
Their  sad  labors,  however,  proveftl  unnecessary. 
The  surgeon.  Dr.  Russel,  having  probed  the 
wound,  by  means  of  a  certain  oil  so  far  relieved 
the  pain  and  swelling,  that  Smith,  as  night  ap- 
proached, was  so  much  better  that  he  was  able 
to  eat  a  part  of  the  fish  for  his  supper.  The 
point  of  land  where  this  occurred,  took  the  name 
of  Stingray  Point. 

It  was  the  twenty-first  of  July  when  they 
reached  Jamestown ;  having  been  absent  more 
than  six  weeks.  As  they  came  near  the  town, 
Smith  determined  to  frighten  old  President  Rat- 
clifFe.  The  old  man  was  known  to  be  weak  and 
inefficient,  and  the  crew  were  all  ready  to  enjoy 
the  frolic.  With  the  colored  earth  from  their 
bags,  they  painted  the  barge  and  decked  her  off 
with  strange  streamers  in  such  a  way,  that  they 
succeeded  admirably.  The  terrified  old  man 
roused  the  colonists,  supposing  that  a  party  of 
Spaniards  were  approaching  to  attack  him. 
When  they  landed  and  shewed  themselves,  they 
all  enjoyed  a  hearty  laugh. 

As  usual,  Smith  found  that  his  absence  had 
produced  confusion  in  the  colony.     The  presi- 


96  JOHN   SMITH. 

dent  had  been  rioting  upon  the  public  stores,  and 
was  now  engaged  in  building  for  himself  a  house 
in  the  woods,  where,  living  alone,  he  might  es- 
cape the  murmurs  of  the  people.  Even  the  poor 
colonists  who  were  sick  had  been  neglected ; 
this  added  to  the  discontent,  and  now  the  gener- 
al cry  was,  that  Ratcliffe  w'as  not  fit  for  presi- 
dent, and  ought  to  be  deposed.  He  was  conse- 
quently turned  out  of  his  office,  and  Smith  chosen 
to  fill  his  place.  The  captain  had  not  yet  ex- 
plored the  bay  as  thoroughly  as  he  desired,  and 
his  design  was  to  be  off  again  as  soon  as  possible. 
He  remained  therefore  but  three  days  at  James- 
town, cheering  the  men  by  the  story  of  his  ad- 
ventures, dividing  provisions  amongst  them,  and 
making  other  arrangements  for  their  comfort ; 
and  then  appointing  Mr.  Scrivener  to  act  as  his 
deputy  during  his  absence,  was  ready  for  his 
departure. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  with  twelve 
men,  he  again  started.  Contrary  winds  detained 
them  for  two  or  three  days  at  Kecoughtan,  where 
the  savages  treated  them  with  great  hospitality. 
To  amuse  them  in  return,  they  set  off  at  night  a 
few  rockets,  which  alarmed  the  natives,  and  gave 
them  a  wonderful  idea  of  their  greatness.  The 
wind  now  changing,  they  proceeded  on  their 


JOHN    SMITH.  97 

voyage,  and  anchored  at  night  off  Stingray  Point. 
The  next  day  they  crossed  the  mouth  of  the  Po- 
tomac, and  reached  as  far  as  the  river  Bolus,  or 
Patapsco.  Hastening  onward,  they  came  ere 
long  to  the  head  of  the  bay.  Here  they  dis- 
covered four  streams,  all  of  which  they  explored 
as  far  as  their  boat  could  sail,  and  found  inhabi- 
tants on  the  banks  of  two  of  them  only.  As 
they  crossed  the  bay,  they  spied  seven  or  eight 
canoes  filled  with  Indians,  who  proved  to  belong 
to  the  tribe  of  the  Massawomeks,  a  warlike 
people  of  whom  Smith  had  often  heard.  It 
seems  that  only  six  men  in  the  barge  were  now 
able  to  stand ;  (the  rest  being  sick ;)  yet  as  these 
Indians  shewed  signs  of  hostility.  Smith  prepared 
to  meet  them.  The  whites  dropped  their  oars, 
and  under  a  press  of  sail  soon  came  near  them. 
To  give  them  the  appearance  of  strength  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Indians,  they  now  resorted  to  a  strat- 
agem. The  hats  of  the  sick  men  were  hoisted 
upon  sticks,  and  between  every  two  sticks,  a 
man  was  stationed  with  two  muskets.  The 
savages,  counting  the  hats,  were  readily  deceived 
as  to  the  number  of  men,  quickly  paddle^  ^-^r 
the  shore,  and  there  stood  gazing  at  the  barge. 
It  was  a  long  time,  before  any  of  them  could  be 
induced  to  come  on  board.  At  length  they  sent 
9 


98  JOHN   SMITH. 

two  of  their  number  unarmed  in  a  canoe,  while 
the  rest  all  followed,  to  help  them  if  it  became 
necessary.  Their  fears  were  soon  over.  When 
the  two  reached  the  barge,  upon  bells  and  other 
trinkets  being  presented  to  them,  they  persuaded 
their  companions  to  come  on  board.  In  a  little 
time  they  were  trading  freely,  and  by  means 
of  signs  talking  freely  with  the  whites.  Veni- 
son, bears'  flesh,  fish,  bows,  arrows,  clubs,  tar- 
gets, and  bear-skins,  were  readily  exchanged  for 
such  things  as  the  whites  could  spare.  They  were 
at  war  with  the  Tockwoghe  Indians,  (a  people 
living  upon  the  Tockwoghe,  or  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Sassafras  River,)  and  these  Mas- 
sawomeks  were  just  returning  from  a  battle, 
with  their  wounds  still  bleeding. 

Soon  after,  upon  entering  the  Tockwoghe 
River,  they  found  the  barge  surrounded  by  fleets 
of  canoes  "  filled  with  fierce  looking  warriors." 
These  were  Tockwoghes.  Fortunately,  one  of 
these  Indians  could  speak  the  language  of  Powha- 
tan, and  he  persuaded  his  companions  "  to  hold  a 
friendly  parley"  with  the  whites.  Upon  coming 
iiwc».,  and  seeing  Smith's  party  in  possession  of 
some  of  the  weapons  of  the  Massawomeks,  they 
at  once  concludea  that  they  had  been  at  war 
with  that  nation ;  and  now  they  conducted  them 


JOHN   SMITH.  99 

in  triumph,  to  their  strong  pallisadoed  town. 
Here,  mats  were  spread  for  them  to  sit  upon, 
and  they  were  entertained  with  songs,  dancing, 
and  feastinsf.  These  Indians  had  hatchets,  knives, 
and  pieces  of  iron  and  brass,  which  they  said  they 
received  from  the  Susquehanocks,  a  tribe  hving 
on  the  Susquehanock  River,  "  two  days'  journey 
higher  than  the  barge  could  pass."  This  tribe 
they  reported  to  be,  hke  themselves,  "  mortal 
enemies  to  the  Massawomeks."  Smith  was  de- 
sirous of  seeing  these  people,  and  prevailed  upon 
the  Tockwoghes  to  send  an  interpreter,  to  invite 
them  to  come  and  visit  him.  In  answer  to  this 
invitation,  in  three  or  four  days,  sixty  of  them 
came  down,  laden  with  presents  of  venison,  bask- 
ets, targets,  bows  and  arrows.  A  curious  scene 
now  occurred  with  these  men,  which  will  at  once 
show  the  proper  habits  of  Smith,  and  the  light 
in  which  they  regarded  him. 

It  was  his  daily  custom  to  have  "  prayers  and 
a  psalm"  with  his  men.  The  poor  savages, 
marking  his  devotions,  were  struck  with  wonder, 
and  soon  commenced  theirs.  "  They  began  in 
a  most  passionate  manner  to  hold  up  their  hands 
to  the  sun,  with  a  most  fearful  song :  then  em- 
bracing the  captain,  they  began  to  adore  him  in 
like  manner  :  though  he  rebuked  them,  yet  they 


100  JOHN   SMITH. 

proceeded  till  their  song  was  finished :  which 
done,  with  a  most  strange  furious  action,  and  a 
hellish  voice,  began  an  oration  of  their  loves ; 
that  ended,  with  a  great  painted  bear's  skin  they 
covered  him  ;  then  one  ready  with  a  great  chain 
of  white  beads,  weighing  at  least  six  or  seven 
pounds,  hung  it  about  his  neck ;  the  others  had 
eighteen  mantels,  made  of  divers  sorts  of  skins 
sewed  together ;  all  these  with  many  other  toys 
they  laid  at  his  feet,  stroking  their  ceremonious 
hands  about  his  neck,  for  his  creation  to  be  their 
governor  and  protector,  promising  their  aid, 
victuals,  or  what  they  had,  to  be  his,  if  he  would 
stay  with  them,  to  defend  and  revenge  them  of 
the  IMassawomeks."  Their  promises  and  en- 
treaties did  not  prevail,  and  in  a  little  time  Smith 
with  his  party  moved  off  from  the  Tockwoghe 
River,  leaving  them  "  very  sorrowful  for  their 
departure." 

Coming  down  the  bay,  they  continued  ex- 
ploring every  inlet  and  headland,  and  giving 
names  to  them  in  honor  of  some  of  their  compa- 
ny. To  mark  their  right  of  possession  as  dis- 
coverers, after  moving  up  the  streams  as  far  as 
their  barge  would  float,  they  would  erect  crosses, 
or  boring  holes  in  the  trees,  would  deposite 
in  them  notes  or  crosses  of  brass.     The  Patuxent 


JOHN   SMITH.  101 

River  was  particularly  explored,  and  they  again 
visited  the  Potomac,  on  both  of  which  streams 
they  were  treated  kindly  by  the  inhabitants. 

Ere  long  they  entered  the  Rappahannock. 
Here  they  met  a  friendly  people  known  as  the 
Moraughtacunds,  and  among  them  an  old  Indian 
acquaintance.  This  was  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Mosco — a  curious  looking  fellow  who  had  served 
as  their  guide  to  the  mine  on  the  Potomac,  on 
their  former  visit.  Unlike  most  of  his  country- 
men, this  man  had  a  black  bushy  beard,  of  which 
he  was  very  proud,  and  thinking  he  resembled 
the  whites,  was  very  happy  to  call  them  "  his 
countrymen."  His  home  (I  believe)  was  on  the 
Potomac,  but  like  most  Indians,  he  was  a  wan- 
derer. Mosco  was  very  kind,  and  urged  Smith 
in  no  case  to  visit  the  Rappahannocks,  stating 
that  they  were  a  hostile  people,  and  would  pro- 
bably kill  them  for  being  friends  to  the  Moraugh- 
tacunds.  These  Moraughtacunds,  it  appeared, 
had  lately  stolen  three  women  from  the  chief  of 
the  Rappahannocks,  and  the  tribes  were  on  no 
friendly  terms.  Mosco's  words  weighed  little 
with  Smith.  He  supposed  that  his  whole  state- 
ment, was  only  a  cunning  story  invented  to 
keep  his  men  trading  where  they  were,  and 
therefore  passed  on  up  the  river.  Mosco,  ac- 
9* 


102  JOHN  SMITH. 

corapanied  him,  still  repeating  what  he  had  said, 
and  this  induced  Smith  to  take  one  precaution. 
The  IVIassawomeks,  you  will  remember,  had  given 
them,  among  other  things,  some  targets.  These 
were  nothing  more  than  shields  "  made  of  little 
small  sticks,  woven  betwixt  strings  of  their 
hemp  and  silk  grass,  as  is  our  cloth,  but  so  firm- 
ly that  no  arrow  can  possibly  pierce  them."  These 
targets  were  now  set  up  as  a  sort  of  breast- work 
in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  in  case  of  danger.  Pre- 
sently the  danger  was  at  hand.  Upon  coming 
near  a  little  creek,  they  discovered  some  canoes 
at  the  shore,  and  upon  seeing  the  savages,  offer- 
ed to  exchange  hostages.  The  Indians,  after 
consultation,  readily  consented.  Five  of  them 
now  walked  out  in  the  stream  to  the  barge, 
bringing  their  man,  and  proposing  to  receive  one 
of  the  whites  in  return.  They  came  without 
clubs,  bows,  or  arrows,  and  seemed  in  every  way 
friendly.  The  caution  of  Smith,  however,  in 
duced  him  to  send  one  of  his  men  (Anas  Tod 
kill)  ashore,  to  observe  if  there  were  any  signs 
of  an  ambuscade.  The  man  performed  his  part 
well,  though  he  came  near  losing  his  life.  Upon 
landing,  he  said  he  wished  to  go  over  the  land 
to  bring  some  wood.  The  Indians  refused  to 
allow  him  to  go,  unless  the  barge  would  enter  the 


JOHN  SMITH.  103 

creek,  and  come  near  the  shore.  This  seemed 
strange;  but  Todkill,  being  a  resolute  man, 
started  onward.  Now  he  perceived  their  cun- 
ning. He  had  not  gone  far,  when  he  discovered 
some  two  or  three  hundred  Indians  lurking 
behind  the  trees.  He  turned  back,  calling  to 
his  countrymen  that  they  were  betrayed.  The 
hostage  in  the  barge  instantly  leaped  into  the 
water,  but  was  instantly  killed.  The  savages 
pursued  Todkill  with  clouds  of  arrows ;  the  party 
in  the  barge  discharged  their  muskets,  and  pull- 
ed for  the  shore.  Todkill  fell  wounded,  but  his 
countrymen  were  now  on  the  land  and  rescued 
him.  Thus  Mosco's  words  had  proved  true; 
and  to  reward  him  for  his  fidelity,  Smith,  after 
gathering  and  breaking  all  the  arrows  that  could 
be  found,  presented  to  him  the  canoes  of  the 
Rappahannocks. 

Notwithstanding  this  unkind  reception.  Smith 
was  resolved  to  proceed  up  the  river.  The  rest 
of  the  day,  therefore,  was  spent  in  fixing  the 
barge  in  better  condition  for  any  farther  attack. 
Targets  were  now  raised  along  the  sides,  making 
a  thorough  breast- work  all  around  the  barge. 
The  next  morning  they  started,  and  in  a  little 
time  felt  the  benefit  of  this  prudence.  As  they 
reached  a  narrow  pass  in  the  river,  they  heard 


104  JOHN    SMITH. 

the  sudden  twang  of  bowstrings,  and  arrows 
fell  fast  around  them.  Mosco  fell  flat  in  the 
boat,  crying  out  "the  Rappahannocks."  Upon 
looking  out  they  saw  no  enemy.  The  banks  of 
the  stream  were  lined  with  beautiful  green 
bushes  :  all  was  still,  and  they  w^ere  at  a  loss  to 
understand  where  an  enemy  could  be.  Ere  long 
they  saw  the  branches  moving,  and  discovered 
the  stratagem.  It  seems  that  thirty  or  forty 
Rappahannocks  had  "  so  accommodated  them- 
selves w^ith  branches  as  to  look  like  little  bushes 
growling  among  the  sedge."  The  whites  in- 
stantly discharged  their  muskets  j  the  savages 
fell  down  in  the  sedge,  and  the  barge  moved  on. 
After  passing  on  about  half  a  mile,  upon  looking 
back  they  saw  these  enemies,  w^ho  now  showed 
themselves  openly,  "  dancing  and  singing  very 
merrily."  Thus  Mosco's  w^ords  were  verified  a 
second  time. 

In  their  farther  ascent  up  this  river,  they 
met  nothing  but  kindness.  Some  of  the  men 
(w^ho  from  exposure  had  been  sick)  now  re- 
covered, with  the  exception  of  one,  a  worthy 
man,  w'hose  death  w^as  much  lamented  by  his 
comrades.  This  was  Richard  Fetherstone.  On 
the  shore  of  a  "  little  bay"  his  companions  dug 
his  grave,  and  in  honor  of  his  good  character 


JOHN   SMITH.  105 

and  services,  as  his  body  was  laid  in  the  ground, 
the  gims  were  fired  over  him,  and  the  place 
marked  as  "  Fetherstone's  Bay." 

Being  now  at  the  falls  of  the  river,  they  went 
ashore,  and  some  commenced  setting  up  crosses 
and  marking  their  names  upon  trees,  while  others 
wandered  about  in  search  of  "  stones,  herbs,  and 
springs  of  water."  They  had  taken  the  precau- 
tion to  post  a  sentinel  on  duty,  and  as  an  arrow 
fell  by  him,  he  gave  the  alarm.  Scarcely  had 
they  rallied  and  seized  their  arms,  when  they 
were  attacked  by  a  hundred  savages.  Sheltered 
behind  the  trees,  the  Indians  kept  up  the  fight 
for  a  half  hour  and  then  retreated.  JMosco's 
services  here,  proved  very  valuable  in  bringing 
about  this  retreat.  He  discharged  his  arrows 
among  them  so  rapidly,  that  the  retreating  men 
imagined  that  a  body  of  Indians  was  in  league 
with  the  whites,  and  that  their  position  was  des- 
perate. After  the  skirmish  was  over,  upon  look- 
ing around,  they  discovered  one  of  the  enemy 
lying  upon  the  ground,  bleeding  freely.  He 
had  been  badly  wounded  by  a  ball,  and  Mosco, 
savage  like,  would  soon  have  despatched  him 
by  beating  out  his  brains.  From  this  cruelty, 
however,  he  was  restrained.  The  poor  fellow's 
wounds  were  dressed  by  Dr.  Russel  the  surgeon, 


106  JOHN   SMITH. 

and  in  an  hour  or  two,  he  was  able  to  eat  and 
speak.  Mosco  now  questioned  him,  to  know 
who  he  was.  He  said  he  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  Hassininga,  one  of  the  four  composing  the 
nation  of  the  Mannahocks.  When  asked  w^hy 
his  people  had  in  this  manner  attacked  the  whites 
who  came  among  them  in  peace  and  kindness, 
he  answered  that  they  had  heard  the  whites 
"  were  a  people  come  from  under  the  world  to 
take  their  world  from  them."  Mosco  asked  him 
how  many  worlds  there  were.  He  replied  that 
"  he  knew  no  more  but  that  which  was  under 
the  sky  that  covered  him,  which  belonged  to  the 
Powhatans,  the  Monacans,  and  the  Massawo- 
meks  that  were  higher  up  in  the  mountains." 
When  asked  what  there  w^as  beyond  the  moun- 
tains, his  answer  was,  "  the  sun."  "  The  Mona- 
cans," he  said, "  w^ere  their  neighbors  and  friends, 
and  did  dwell  as  they,  in  the  hilly  countries  by 
small  rivers,  living  upon  roots  and  fruits,  but 
chiefly  by  hunting.  The  Massawomeks  did  dwell 
upon  a  great  w^ater,  and  had  many  boats,  and  so 
many  men  that  they  made  war  w^ith  all  the 
world.*  For  their  kings,  they  were  gone  every 
one  a  several  Avay  w^ith  their  men  on  hunting  • 

•  Stithj  in  liis  history  of  Virginia,  supposes  these  Massawo« 
meks  may  have  been  the  same  as  the  '•  Six  Nations." 


JOHN   SMITH.  107 

but  those  with  him  came  thither  a  fishing  till 
they  saw  us,  notwithstanding  they  would  be  all 
together  at  night  at  Mahaskahod.^'*  After  this, 
the  whites  presented  him  with  many  toys,  and 
persuaded  him  to  go  along  with  them.  JNlosco 
now  urged  that  they  should  immediately  leave 
this  region,  for  he  suspected  treachery.  But 
the  captive  begged  that  they  would  stay  till  night, 
and  see  the  kings  of  the  Mannahocks.  who  would 
befriend  them  for  their  kind  usage  of  him.  la 
spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  Mosco,  they  de- 
termined to  remain,  and  he,  shewing  that  he  still 
had  his  own  thoughts,  busied  himself  all  day  in 
preparing  his  arrows. 

All  this  time  the  chief  of  Hassininga  was  mov- 
ing among  his  countrymen,  and  consulting  as  to 
what  should  be  done.  At  night  the  English  de- 
parted, and  ere  long  they  were  attacked  from  the 
banks  by  the  Mannahocks.  They  followed  them 
all  night,  yelling,  and  hallooing,  and  shooting  their 
arrows.  They  could  be  brought  to  no  terms  of 
peace,  for  their  noise  was  so  loud  that  the  voice 
of  their  countryman  in  the  barge  could  not  be 
heard.  When  morning  dawned,  the  barge  an- 
chored, and  Amoroleck,  (this  was  the  name  of 
their  captive  countryman,)  shewing  himself,,  was 

*  Smith's  Virginia— Vol.  I.,  page  187 


108  JOHN    SMITH. 

able  to  speak  to  them.  He  told  them  that  he 
had  been  used  very  kindly  ;  that  there  was  one 
of  the  Potomacs  along  who  would  have  killed 
him,  but  the  whites  had  saved  him;  that  he 
could  have  his  liberty  if  they  would  be  friends 
lo  the  whites,  and  even  if  they  chose  rather  to 
be  enemies,  they  could  do  them  no  possible  harm. 
Upon  this,  they  all  hung  their  bows  and  quivers 
upon  the  trees,  and  two  now  came  swimming  to 
:he  barge,  the  one  bringing  upon  his  head  a  bow, 
the  other  a  quiver  of  arrows.  These  were  pre- 
sented to  Captain  Smith  in  token  of  submission. 
He  treated  them  very  kindly,  and  told  them  that 
if  the  other  three  kings  w^ould  do  the  same  thing, 
he  would  be  a  friend  to  their  nation.  This  was 
hardly  demanded,  before  it  was  assented  to.  The 
parties  now  went  ashore  upon  a  low  point  of 
land  near  by,  the  acts  of  submission  were  per- 
formed, and  Amoroleck  was  delivered  up  to  his 
countrymen.  The  whites  Avere  soon  again  on 
their  way,  leaving  upon  the  shore  four  or  five 
hundred  Indians,  singing,  dancing,  and  making 
loud  rejoicings. 

As  they  came  down  the  river,  they  found 
all  the  friendly  Indians  greatly  rejoiced  to  hear 
of  their  success  over  the  Mannahocks,  for  these 
people   were   not   looked   upon   as   friends  by 


JOHN   SMITH.  109 

any  of  the  tribes  on  the  river.  WTien  the^ 
reached  the  Moraughtacunds,  they  began  strange- 
ly to  urge  Captain  Smith  to  make  peace  with 
the  Rappahannocks.  This  was  probably^flone 
in  the  hope,  that  they  (who,  you  will  remem- 
ber, were  not  on  good  terms  with  the  Rap- 
pahannocks) might  profit  by  whatever  Smith 
should  do.  After  much  entreaty.  Smith  agreed 
to  make  peace  with  them  upon  certain  condi- 
tions. They  had  twice  attacked  him  without 
any  cause,  (he  said,)  yet  he  would  forgive  these 
injuries,  and  be  to  them  a  friend,  if  the  chief  of 
the  Rappahannocks  would  deliver  to  him  his  bow 
and  quiver  in  token  of  submission  ;  agree  never 
to  come  armed  into  his  presence,  to  live  in  friend- 
ship with  the  Moraughtacunds,  and,  last  of  all. 
to  give  up  his  son  as  a  pledge  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  these  terms.  A  message  was 
immediately  sent  to  the  chief,  and  he  came,  readi- 
ly assenting  to  all  the  terms  but  the  last.  He 
had  but  one  son,  and  his  heart  (he  said)  would 
break  at  parting  with  him.  Instead  of  the  boy^ 
he  was  willing  to  deliver  up  the  three  women 
whom  the  Moraughtacunds  had  stolen.  Smith 
assented  to  this,  and  now  the  chief,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  many,  laid  down  his  bow  and  arrows, 
and  then  the  three  women  were  brought  forward. 
10 


110  JOHN   SMITH. 

To  the  chief  of  the  Rappahannocks  Smith  gave 
the  first  choice,  that  he  might  select  her  he  loved 
best ;  to  the  chief  of  the  Moraughtacunds  the  se- 
cond, and  the  faithful  Mosco  took  the  remainino- 
one.  Thus  the  treaty  was  ended,  and  all  parties 
were  pleased.  The  men,  women,  and  children 
all  joined  in  feasting,  dancing,  and  singing. 
Mosco  was  so  much  pleased  with  this  new  ar- 
rangement made  by  the  captain,  that,  to  shew 
his  love  for  the  whites,  he  changed  his  name. 
They  were  usually  known  as  "  the  strangers,^^ 
and  he  took,  therefore,  the  name  UttasantasoKgh, 
meaning  the  stranger.  The  savages,  in  their  joy, 
promised  also  to  plant  corn  purposely  for  their 
benefit,  and  the  English,  in  return,  agreed  to  pro- 
vide hatchets,  beads,  and  copper  for  them.  Then 
discharging  their  fire-arms,  the  barge  pushed  ofif 
amid  the  loud  shouts  and  cries  of  the  Indians. 

Next,  they  entered  the  Piankatank  River,  and 
explored  that  as  far  as  the  barge  would  float. 
They  found  on  the  banks  of  this  stream  only 
some  old  men,  women,  and  children,  the  younger 
men  being  all  out  upon  hunting  excursions. 
They  were  treated  with  kindness,  and  soon  left 
them. 

In  passing  down  the  bay,  a  little  to  the  south 
of  York  River,  they  were  struck  by  a  squall  in 


JOHN   SMITH.  Ill 

the  night,  and  with  great  difficulty  escaped  ship- 
wreck. The  wind  blew  violently  toward  the 
shore,  and,  in  the  darkness,  their  little  barge 
more  than  once  nearly  stranded,  but  a  flash  of 
lightning  would  from  time  to  time  disclose  their 
perilous  position,  and  keeping  clear  of  the  land 
as  well  as  they  could,  they  were  at  length  ena- 
bled, by  God's  mercy,  to  reach  Point  Comfort, 
where  they  anchored. 

The  next  morning  Smith  determined,  before 
he  returned  home,  to  visit  certain  neighbors  of 
whom  he  had  often  heard.  These  were  the 
Chesapeakes  and  Nandsamonds.  Setting  sail 
therefore  for  the  southern  shore,  he  soon  entered 
the  narrow  river,  known  then  as  the  Chesapeake. 
This  is  now  the  Elizabeth  River,  upon  which 
Norfolk  is  situated.  The  river  "  had  a  good 
channel,  but  some  shoals  about  the  entrance." 
They  sailed  up  six  or  seven  miles,  and  saw 
two  or  three  httle  garden  plots,  with  houses,  and 
the  shores  overgrown  with  the  largest  pines 
they  had  ever  seen  in  the  country ;  but  neither 
seeing  or  hearing  any  people,  and  the  river  be- 
ing very  narrow,  they  returned  back,  and  coast- 
ed the  shore  towards  Nandsamond.  "At  the 
mouth  of  the  Nandsamond,"  they  spied  some  six  or 
seven  Indians  making  weirs  for  fishing,  who  fled 


112  JOHN    SMITH. 

as  soon  as  they  were  discovered.  The  party  went 
ashore,  and  leaving  many  toys  and  trinkets 
where  the  Indians  had  been  working,  returned 
to  the  barge.  In  a  Httle  time  the  Indians  re- 
turned, and  began  to  dance  and  sing,  and  call 
them  back.  One  of  them,  without  fear,  came 
out  to  the  barge,  and  invited  them  to  come  up 
the  river,  and  visit  him  at  his  house.  The  in- 
vitation was  accepted,  and  they  moved  onward. 
They  observed  the  banks  of  the  stream  lined  with 
fine  fields  of  corn,  and  ere  long  approached  an 
island,  which  seemed  to  be  richly  cultivated. 
This  island  was  the  home  of  their  host.  Here 
they  went  ashore,  and  were  treated  by  him  with 
great  kindness,  and  in  return  gave  many  toys  to 
his  wife  and  children.  Other  Indians  now  came, 
inviting  them  higher  up  the  river  to  their  houses. 
The  party,  accepting  their  invitation  also,  were 
moving  on  in  good  faith,  when  suddenly  their 
suspicions  were  aroused.  Some  six  or  eight 
canoes  were  seen  behind  them,  filled  with  armed 
men.  The  stratagem  was  soon  at  work.  They 
had  reached  a  narrow  pass  in  the  river,  and  now 
the  attack  commenced.  An  ambuscade  of  three 
or  four  hundred  Chesapeakes  and  Nandsamonds 
poured  their  arrows  from  the  land,  while  clouds 
of  arrows  came  from  the  canoes  in  the  rear 


JOHN   SMITH,  113 

The  Massawomek  targets  covered  the  men  in  the 
barge,  while  with  their  muskets  they  answered 
this  assault.  The  savages  leaped  from  the  ca- 
noes and  swam  for  the  shore,  while  the  barge 
dropped  down  into  a  broader  part  of  the  stream, 
the  men  on  board  keeping  up  a  perpetual  fire. 
Now  beyond  the  reach  of  their  arrows,  they  con- 
tinued the  war  upon  their  enemies  on  the  land, 
until  they  were  all  glad  to  disperse.  Fortu- 
nately, not  one  of  the  party  in  the  barge  was 
hurt. 

Smith  resolved  upon  vengeance.  He  seized 
all  their  deserted  boats,  and  determined  at 
night  to  burn  every  thing  upon  the  island.  In 
the  mean  time,  his  men  commenced  breaking  the 
canoes.  The  poor  Indians,  seeing  this,  threw 
down  their  arms,  and  sued  for  peace.  Smith 
made  his  own  terms.  He  commanded  them 
to  bring  the  chief's  bow  and  arrows,  a  chain  of 
pearl,  and  four  hundred  baskets  of  corn,  other- 
wise he  would  destroy  all  that  they  had.  The 
Indians  "most  joyfully"  agreed  to  the  con- 
ditions, and  "  flocking  down  in  great  numbers, 
with  their  baskets,  soon  loaded  the  boat  with 
corn." 

The  party  now  started  homew^ard.  They 
met  with  no  farther  adventures  by  the  w^ay, 
10* 


114  JOHN   SMITH. 

and  at  length,  on  the  seventh  of  September,  ar- 
rived at  Jamestown  in  great  "  joy  and  trimnph." 
In  the  two  voyages  together.  Smith  had  been  ab- 
sent from  the  colony  a  little  more  than  three 
months,  with  the  exception  of  the  three  days 
which  you  will  recollect  he  spent  at  James- 
town.* 

*  Captain  Smith  made  a  map  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the 
countries  which  he  explored  upon  its  banks  or  tributary 
streams.  This  map  will  be  found  published  m  his  History  ol 
Virginia. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

^mith  enters  upon  his  new  duties  as  President 
— Arrival  of  Captain  Kewport — His  plan  for 
finding  the  South  Sea — Brings  presents  to 
Powhatan — Smith  opposes  the  project — The 
project  goes  on — Smith'' s  visit  to  Powhatan — 
Tells  him  of  the  presents — His  haughty  reply — 
The  presents  are  brought  to  the  chief — He  is 
crowned — Jfewport  attempts  to  find  the  South 
Sea  and  fails — Employment  of  the  men — ■ 
Smith's  mode  of  breaking  up  the  bad  habit  of 
swearing  among  his  men — Bad  conduct  of  the 
sailors — Departure  of  the  ship — Letter  of  the 
Council  in  England  to  Smith — His  reply — 
Smith  goes  to  J^andsamond  and  obtains  supplies 
— He  afterwards  attempts  to  seize  Powhatan 
and  his  stores — Is  betrayed — The  friendship 
of  Pocahontas  prevents  his  being  captured. 

Smith  was  grieved  to  find,  upon  his  return, 
that  many  of  the  poor  colonists  had  died,  but 
dehghted  to  discover  that  Mr.  Scrivener  had 
proved  faithful,  and  administered  all  affairs  well. 


116  JOHN    SMITH. 

Ratcliff,  the  old  president,  had  again  made  trou- 
ble, and  was  now  a  prisoner,  under  the  charge 
of  mutiny.  In  three  days  Smith  was  regularly 
invested  with  the  office  of  president,  and  set  to 
work  with  his  usual  energy.  "  The  church  was 
repaired,  the  store-house  new  covered,  and  a 
place  made  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  sup- 
plies they  daily  expected  from  England.  The 
fort  was  reduced  into  form,  the  order  of  the 
w^atch  was  renewed,  the  troops  trained  at  each 
setting  of  the  watch,  and  the  whole  company 
every  Saturday  exercised  in  the  plain  toward 
the  w^est,  which  was  prepared  for  that  purpose, 
and  called  Smithfield  ;  where  sometimes  above 
an  hundred  Indians  would  stand  in  amazement, 
to  behold  how  a  file  would  batter  a  tree,  when 
the  president  had  made  them  a  mark  to  shoot 
at."*  As  it  was  the  time  of  gathering  corn 
wath  the  Indians,  the  boats  also  were  made 
ready  for  a  trading  voyage,  and  sent  off  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Percy.  On  their 
way,  to  their  great  joy,  they  met  Captain  Newport 
returning  with  the  second  supply,  and  they  all 
came  back  with  him  to  Jamestown. 

Newport  had  brought  out  with  him  this  time 
many  people  of  consequence,  among  whom  were 

•  Stith's  Virginia,  page  76. 


JOHN  SMITH.  l-*  ' 


Captams  Peter  Wynne  and  Richard  Waldo,  (two 
old  soldiers,)  as  new  members  of  the  council. 
Aboard  the  ship  also  were  Mrs.  Forest  and  her 
maid  Ann  Burras,  the  first  English  women  ever 
seen  in  Virginia.    Some  Poles  and  Germans  had 
likewise  been  sent  along,  « to  make  pitch,  tar 
Mass,  mills,  and  soap  ashes."     He  had  received 
from   the  company   at  home  the  strange  and 
foolish  instruction,  "not  to  return  without  a 
lump  of  gold,  or  finding  the  South  Sea,  or  dis- 
covering one  of  the  lost  company  sent  out  m 
former  years  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh."     For  the 
purpose  of  aiding  him  in  this  South  Sea  scheme, 
he  had  with  him  a  barge,  made  to  be  taken  m 
pieces,  carried  beyond  the  falls  of  the  river,  re- 
constructed, and  there  launched  for  the  adven- 
ture    To  secure  the  friendship  of  Powhatan  m 
his  great  enterprise,  he  had  brought  rich  pre- 
sents for  him.     These  consisted  of  a  basin  and 
ewer,  bed  and  bedstead,  a  chair  of  state,  a  suit 
of  rich  clothing,  and  a  crown. 

When  Newport  talked  of  his  plans.  Smith  op- 
posed him  strongly.  He  was  a  man  of  too  much 
good  sense  to  give  in  to  any  such  scheme  of  folly. 
He  said  plainly,  that  instead  of  sending  the  men 
off  upon  any  such  expedition,  they  should  be  em- 
ployed in  procuring  provisions  for  the  commg 


118  JOHN   SMITH. 

winter.  But  Newport  at  once  promised  to  make 
this  a  part  of  the  enterprise,  stating  that  he 
would  bring  supplies  of  corn  back  with  him. 
In  addition,  too,  he  promised  large  supplies  from 
the  ship — a  promise  which  was  so  little  veri- 
fied, that  before  the  ship  sailed,  the  poor  colo- 
nists had  to  spare  three  hogsheads  of  corn  to 
victual  her  homeward.  Smith  objected,  too,  to 
making  such  rich  presents  to  Powhatan.  It 
was  now  easy  (he  said)  to  satisfy  him  at  any 
time  with  a  present  of  beads  and  other  trinkets  ; 
but  after  receiving  such  gifts  as  these,  Powhatan 
would  ever  be  proud  and  insolent.  Newport 
was  before  this  jealous  of  Smith,  and  this  oppo- 
sition made  him  the  more  so.  He  declared  that 
the  council  were  all  ready  for  the  enterprise, 
and  that  Smith  alone  prevented  it ;  that  the 
cause  of  this  opposition  arose  from  two  cir- 
cumstances: first,  that  he  was  desirous  of 
making  the  discovery  himself  for  his  own  glory ; 
and  next,  that  he  knew  his  former  cruelty  to  the 
Indians,  by  provoking  their  hostility  to  the  ex- 
ploring party,  would  be  the  only  cause  pre- 
venting success.  Far  from  being  angry.  Smith 
determined  at  once  to  prove  the  utter  falsehood 
of  such  statements,  by  aiding  the  mad  scheme, 
as  far  as  he  could.     Accordingly,  he  resolved 


JOHN   SMITH.  119 

to  visit  Powhatan,  and  invite  him  to  com.e  to 
Jamestown  and  receive  the  presents. 

With  Captain  Waldo,  and  three  more  as  his 
companions,  he  walked  twelve  miles,  and  then 
passed  over  the  river  in  an  Indian  canoe  to 
Werowocomoco,  where  he  hoped  to  find  the 
chief.  Powhatan,  however,  was  thirty  miles 
farther  in  the  country,  and  messengers  were  im- 
mediately sent  for  him.  The  princess  Pocahon- 
tas was  here,  and  while  they  waited  for  her  father, 
she,  with  her  women,  entertained  them  wuth 
dancing  and  feasting,  "  after  a  curious  manner." 

A  large  fire  was  made  in  the  open  plain,  and 
the  party  seated  before  it.  Suddenly,  such  a 
noise  was  heard  in  the  woods,  that  they  supposed 
they  were  betrayed.  Instantly  they  sprang  to 
their  arms,  and  seized  three  old  men  as  hostages 
for  their  security.  Upon  this,  Pocahontas  came 
running  to  Smith,  and  offered  to  be  killed  her- 
self, if  any  harm  should  happen  to  him  or  his 
companions.  Pacified  by  this,  they  seated  them- 
selves quietly  again  In  a  little  time  thirty  girls 
came  forward,  richly  painted  of  different  colors, 
and  each  one  wearing  a  girdle  of  green  leaves. 
"  Their  leader  had  a  pair  of  buck's  horns  on  her 
head,  an  otter's  skin  as  her  girdle,  and  another 
on  one  arm  :  a  bow  and  arrow  in  the  other  hand. 


120  JOHN   SMITH. 

and  a  quiver  at  her  back."  Some  carried  wood 
en  staffs  in  their  hands.  Forming  themselves  in 
a  ring,  for  an  hour  they  kept  up  their  dancing, 
singing,  and  shouting.  After  this  the  feast  com- 
menced, and  the  Indian  girls  waited  upon  them 
as  they  ate.  At  night,  they  were  conducted  to 
their  lodgings  by  the  hght  of  fire-brands. 

The  next  morning  Powhatan  arrived,  and 
Smith  came  before  him  with  his  message.  After 
telling  him  of  Newport's  arrival  and  plans,  and 
that  he  had  brought  for  him  rich  presents  from  the 
king  of  the  English,  who  was  ready  to  assist  him 
in  his  war  against  the  jMonacans,  he  invited  him 
to  come  at  once  to  Jamestown  and  receive  the 
gifts.  To  this  invitation,  the  chief  gave  him  this 
proud  answer :  "  If  your  king  has  sent  me  a 
present,  I  also  am  a  king,  and  am  on  my  own 
land.  I  will  stay  here  eight  days.  Your  father 
must  come  to  me ;  I  will  not  go  to  him,  nor  to 
your  fort.  As  for  the  Monacans,  I  am  able  to 
revenge  myself  If  you  have  heard  of  salt  water 
beyond  the  mountains  from  any  of  my  people, 
they  have  deceived  you."  Then  with  a  stick, 
he  drew  upon  the  ground  plots  of  that  region  of 
country,  and  Smith  started  homeward  with  his 
answer. 

The  aoswer  being  delivered,  the  presents  were 


JOHN   SMITH.  121 

now  sent  around  by  water,  while  Smith  and 
Newport  went  across  by  land  with  a  guard  of 
fifty  men.  All  having  met  at  Werowocomoco, 
the  next  day  wa  appointed  for  crowning  the 
chief.  In  the  morning  the  presents  were  brought 
forward — the  basin  and  ewer  were  placed  before 
him,  and  the  bed  and  furniture  set  up.  His 
scarlet  clothes  were  brought  in,  but  there  was 
some  difficulty  in  inducing  the  old  man  to  put 
them  on,  nor  would  he  do  it  until  the  Indian  boy 
Namontack  (who,  you  will  remember,  had  been 
given  to  Newport,  and  had  been  in  England 
with  him)  assured  him  that  they  could  not  hurt 
him.  The  hardest  part  was  yet  to  come,  for  it 
was  impossible  to  make  him  kneel,  that  the  crown 
might  be  placed  upon  his  head.  "  He  neither 
knew  the  majesty  of  a  crown,  nor  the  meaning 
of  bending  the  knee,  which  obliged  them  to  use 
so  many  persuasions,  examples,  and  instructions, 
as  tired  them  all."  At  last,  by  leaning  hard  on 
his  shoulders,  he  stooped  a  little,  and  then  being 
ready  with  the  crown,  they  put  it  on  his  head.  A 
pistol  was  now  fired  as  a  signal  to  the  boats,  and 
instantly  a  volley  of  musketry  was  heard,  in 
honor  of  the  crowned  chief.  The  man  most 
honored,  least  understood  it  He  started  alarmed, 
supposing  that  there  was  a  plot  to  destroy  him, 
11 


122  JOHN    S:\IITH. 

in  "  the  midst  of  his  glory."  Being  assured  that 
no  harm  was  intended,  he  became  satisfied,  and 
began  to  return  -what  he  thought  suitable  kind- 
nesses. His  old  fur  mantle  and  deer  skin  shoes 
were  delivered  to  Newport  for  his  king,  and  to 
"  his  father  Newport"  was  given  for  himself  "  an 
heap  of  ears  of  corn,  containing  perhaps  some 
seven  or  eight  bushels."  Newport  having  talked 
largely  of  going  to  the  salt  water,  and  visiting 
the  reo-ion  of  the  Monacans,  the  last  counsel  of 
the  old  man  at  parting  was,  that  he  should  not 
attempt  it ;  but  if  he  was  determined  to  try  it, 
he  would  allow  him  no  guides  but  the  Indian  boy 
Namontack. 

Thus  the  ceremony  with  Powhatan  had  end- 
ed, and  now  they  were  again  in  Jamestown,  with 
little  hope  of  any  help  from  him  in  finding  the 
South  Sea,  after  all  their  trouble.  Still,  New- 
port was  resolved  upon  the  effort.  Accordingly, 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty  chosen  men,  led 
by  Captain  Waldo,  Lieutenant  Percy,  Captain 
Wynne,  Mr.  W^est,  and  Mr.  Scrivener,  he  set 
forward.  Smith  remained  behind  with  eighty 
or  ninety  feeble  men,  to  prepare  for  relading  the 
ship.  Ascending  the  James  River  as  far  as  the 
falls,  they  passed  on  thirty  or  forty  miles  over 
land,  through  "  a  fair^  fertile,  and  well-watered 


JOHN    SMITH.  123 

country."  Two  towns  of  the  Monacans  were 
discovered  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  where 
the  people  took  Httle  notice  of  them ;  yet  they 
seized  one  of  the  petty  kings,  and  took  him 
along  as  a  guide  on  their  way.  In  a  little  time 
they  became  wearied,  and  sickening  over  the 
adventure,  started  homeward.  They  had  taken 
with  them  "  certain  refiners,"  to  seek  mineral 
treasures,  and  after  visiting,  therefore,  what 
they  thought  gold  mines,  and  gathering  some 
shining  dirt,  they  at  length  reached  James- 
town, "  half  sick,  and  all  complaining,  being 
sadly  harassed  with  toil,  famine,  and  discon- 
tent." 

The  expedition  had  ended  precisely  as  Smith 
expected.  He  w^ell  understood,  however,  that 
the  best  mode  of  quieting  their  complaints, 
was  to  give  them  some  useful  employment. 
Some  of  the  mechanics  were  set  to  making 
glass,  while  others  were  employed  in  making 
tar,  pitch,  and  potash.  Leaving  these  under  the 
direction  of  the  council  at  Jamestown,  he  started 
with  thirty  others  down  the  river,  to  teach  them 
"  to  cut  down  trees,  make  clapboards,  and  he  in 
the  woods."  Some  of  these  were  gentlemen, 
unaccustomed  to  such  work,  and  found  it,  of 
course,  hard;  but  he  was  determined  to  make 


124  JOHN    S:\IITH. 

them  independent  in  a  new  c(»untr}',  by  teach- 
ing them  how  to  labor.  He  led  the  way  in 
the  work,  and  in  a  little  time  they  were  like 
"  old  wood-choppers."  But  he  not  only  cured 
their  habits  of  idleness.  The  bad  habit  of 
swearing  prevailed  among  them  at  times,  and 
this  did  not  please  the  captain.  A  remedy  for 
this  was,  therefore,  applied.  He  caused  every 
man's  oaths  to  be  noticed  during  the  day,  and 
when  night  came  the  whole  were  assembled, 
and  for  every  oath  a  man  had  used,  a  can  of 
vater  was  poured  down  his  sleeve.  This  was  a 
strange  punishment,  but  it  seems  to  have  pro- 
duced the  desired  effect.  In  a  short  time  the 
bad  practice  was  discontinued.  Having  drilled 
them  sufficiently  in  the  woods,  he  returned  with 
them  to  Jamestowm. 

He  found  that  business  had  been  neglected 
again,  that  provisions  were  running  low,  and 
that  it  was  necessary  to  undertake  an  expe- 
dition in  search  of  corn.  With  eighteen  men 
he  at  once  embarked  in  the  barge,  and  leaving 
orders  that  Lieutenant  Percy  should  follow  him 
in  a  boat,  w^ent  up  the  Chickahomony  river. 
The  Indians  learning  his  wants  were  surly 
and  out  of  humor,  and  insolently  refused  to 
trade  on  any  terms.    Smith  was  not  to  be  driven 


JOHN   SMITH.  125 

oif  in  this  way.  He  told  them  that  he  had  not 
come  among  them  so  much  for  corn,  as  for  the 
purpose  of  revenging  his  own  captivity,  and  the 
death  of  some  of  his  countrymen.  Then  prompt- 
ly landing  his  men,  he  prepared  for  battle.  The 
savages  instantly  fled.  Presently  some  of  them 
returned,  bringing  presents  of  corn,  fish,  and  fowl, 
sueing  earnestly  for  peace.  They  stated  that 
their  corn  that  year  was  not  abundant,  and  their 
own  wants  great;  yet  they  loaded  the  barge 
with  one  hundred  bushels ;  and  when  Lieutenant 
Percy  soon  after  arrived,  he  received  as  much 
more.  Returning  home,  they  were  received  with 
great  joy  at  Jamestown,  for  the  supply  was  much 
needed.  Yet,  while  he  was  thus  laboring  abroad 
for  the  good  of  the  colony,  some  enemy  was  al- 
Avays  busy  at  home  trying  to  injure  him.  "  Such 
was  the  malice  and  envy  of  some,  (as  it  is  writ- 
ten,) that  they  had  rather  hazard  a  starving, 
than  that  Smith's  endeavors  should  prove  so 
much  more  effectual  than  theirs."  Newport  and 
Ratcliffe  had  been  planning,  not  only  to  depose 
him  from  the  presidency,  but  even  to  keep  him 
from,  entering  the  fort,  under  the  pretence  that 
he  had  left  the  place  without  their  permission. 
Their  efforts,  however,  were  so  ridiculous  and 
wicked,  that  the  people  revolted,  and  they  them- 


126  JOH>!    SMITH. 

selves  very  narrowly  escaped  "  a  greater  mis- 
chief." 

The  delay  of  the  ship  too,  as  on  a  former  oc- 
casion, produced  trouble.  A  constant  traffick- 
ing was  all  the  while  going  on  between  the 
sailors  and  the  Indians,  in  which,  of  course,  the 
former  took  care  of  their  own  private  interests, 
rather  than  those  of  the  colony.  Indeed,  (it  is 
said,)  they  would  sometimes  steal  articles  from  the 
public  stores,  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  their 
furs  and  baskets.  Certain  it  is,  that  of  two  or 
three  hundred  axes,  hoes,  pickaxes,  and  other 
instruments  brought  out  for  the  use  of  the  colony, 
twenty  only  could  be  found  at  the  end  of  six  or 
seven  weeks.  Thus  these  poor  vagabonds  preyed 
upon  the  colony,  and  yet  these  were  the  men 
who  were  soon  to  return  to  England  to  tell 
what  stories  they  pleased  of  Virginia — to  talk 
of  the  abundance  there,  and  prevent  supplies 
^om  being  sent  out  by  the  council.  It  was 
Newport's  business  to  check  all  this,  yet  it  was 
not  done.  Smith  was  greatly  indignant,  and 
the  ship  being  nearly  ready  to  sail,  he  threatened 
to  send  her  home,  and  detain  Newport  a  year  in 
the  colony,  that  he  might  learn  from  experi- 
ence what  their  real  sufferings  were.  But 
Newport   became    alarmed,   acknowledged  his 


JOHN   SMITH. 


127 


fault,  and  was  pardoned.  At  length,  to  the  great 
joy  of  the  colony,  the  ship  sailed  homeward, 
laden  with  "  specimens  of  tar,  pitch,  turpentine, 
potash,  clapboards,  and  wainscot."  On  her 
way  out,  she  met  at  Point  Comfort  with  Mr. 
Scrivener,  who  had  been  up  the  Paraunkey 
river  in  search  of  corn.  He  had  with  him  a 
quantity  of  pocones,  (a  red  root  used  ill  dying,) 
and  these  were  given  to  Newport,  as  farther  spe- 
cimens of  the  products  of  the  country. 

Among  other  strange  things  taken  to  Eng- 
land by  this  ship,  was  a  letter  from  Captain 
Smith  to  the  Council  at  home.  It  seems  that 
the  Council  in  England  had  strange  ideas  of  the 
New  Workl,  and  supposed  that  every  adventure 
would  return  them  ample  supplies  of  gold  and 
silver.  In  this  thought  they  had  of  course  been 
disappointed,  and  therefore  had  readily  listened 
from  time  to  time,  to  the  enemies  who  murmured 
against  the  colonial  settlements.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  feeling,  they  had  sent  by  New- 
port a  letter  to  Captain  Smith,  making  com- 
plaints against  the  colony  in  Virginia.  The 
principal  complaints  were,  of  the  hopes  that  had 
been  fed,  only  to  be  disappointed  ;  of  the  quar- 
rels  and  divisions  among  the  colonists,  and  a 
foolish  project  about  dividing  the  country,  of 


128  JOHN   SMITH. 

which  the  late  president  had  "written  to  the  Earl 
of  SaHsbury ;  and  the  whole  concluded  with  a 
threat,  that  "  unless  the  charge  of  this  voyage, 
amounting  to  about  two  thousand  pounds,  was 
defrayed  by  the  ship's  return,  they  should  be  de- 
serted, and  left  to  remain  there  as  banished 
men."  It  was  in  reply  to  this  that  Smith  now 
returned  them  a  bold  letter  containing  a  fail 
statement  of  facts. 

As  to  their  complaints,  he  denies  that  he  had 
ever  fed  them  with  vain  hopes,  or  that  he  knew 
or  had  ever  heard  before,  any  thing  about  the 
project  for  dividing  the  country.  As  for  quar- 
rels among  the  colonists,  they  were  caused  (in 
spite  of  his  efforts  at  peace)  by  bad  and  dis- 
orderly men,  of  whom  Ratcliffe  and  Archer  were 
the  chief,  and  that  he  now  sent  them  home  to  get 
rid  of  them.  In  fact,  the  people  were  so  pro- 
voked against  Ratcliffe  that  it  was  necessary  to 
send  him  home  to  save  his  life,  for  many  of  them 
were  ready  to  cut  his  throat. 

Next  he  brings  his  complaints  against  them ; 
that  they  had  listened  to  idle  complaints  from 
enemies  of  the  colony,  (of  whom  he  suspected 
Newport  to  be  the  greatest,)  and  had  not  at- 
tempted properly  to  aid  them ;  that  they  had 
sent  out  a  parcel  of  idlers  or  useless  manufac- 


JOHN    SMITH.  129 

turers  into  the  settlement,  from  time  to  time,  in- 
stead of  sending  such  men  as  were  needed.  He 
begged  them,  hke  sensible  men,  to  dismiss  all 
thoughts  of  getting  rich  immediately  through 
the  colony,  and  to  send  to  him  carpenters,  gar- 
deners, fishermen,  blacksmiths,  and  masons. 
Thirty  of  these  (he  stated)  would  be  w^orth  more 
in  Virginia  than  all  their  fine  gentlemen. 

He  then  complains  of  the  last  adventure  of 
New^port ;  that  they  had  sent  him  to  the  country 
with  a  foolish  project  in  his  head  for  finding  the 
South  Sea,  and  laden  him  with  rich  presents  for 
Powhatan ;  that  he  himself  had  opposed  this 
plan,  because  he  thought  it  idle,  but  when  the 
Council  approved  it,  he  had  joined  them  heart 
and  hand ;  that  every  facihty  had  been  offered 
to  Newport  for  the  etTort,  and  he  had  completely 
failed,  as  he  knew  he  w^ould ;  that  Pow^hatan  had 
been  crowned,  and  the  presents  delivered  to  him, 
from  which  he  expected  nothing  but  trouble  for 
the  colony.  As  for  the  two  thousand  pounds 
which  the  voyage  had  cost,  the  colony  had  not 
received  the  benefit  of  one  hundred ;  that  New- 
port and  his  sailors  were  only  a  tax  to  them,  for 
they  had  to  furnish  them  wdth  supplies  homeward. 
These,  with  many  other  direct  charges,  w^ere  in 
the  letter ;  and  in  conclusion,  (that  they  might 


130  JOHN    SMITH. 

see  he  had  not  been  i<lle,)  he  stated  that  he  sent 
them  by  the  ship  some  stones,  which  he  sup- 
posed might  contain  iron  ore,  with  the  places 
marked  where  they  were  found,  together  with  his 
map  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  his  description  of 
the  countries  he  had  discovered.  * 

The  ship  having  departed,  he  commenced 
again  gathering  supplies.  With  Captain  Wynne 
and  Mr.  Scrivener  as  his  companions,  he  set  out 
immediately  for  the  Nandsamond  river.  It  seems 
the  Indians  on  that  river  had  promised  to  give 
him  four  hundred  baskets  of  corn.  This  they 
were  now  unwiUing  to  do,  and  even  refused  to 
trade  with  him  in  any  way.  They  tried  to  ex- 
cuse themselves,  by  saying,  that  "  their  corn 
was  almost  all  spent,"  and  that  Powhatan  had 
commanded  them  not  to  part  with  what  they 
had,  nor  to  allow  the  English  to  enter  the  river. 
Smith  at  once  resolved  to  use  force.  He  com- 
manded his  party  to  discharge  the  muskets,  and 
the  Indians  fled  without  shooting  an  arrow. 
Then  marching  up  to  their  houses,  they  set  fire 
to  the  first  they  came  to.  The  savages,  see- 
ing this,  came  to  terms.  They  proposed  to 
give  them  half  the  corn  they  had,  and  to  plant 
corn  purposely  for  them  the  next  year,  if  they 
would  spare  their  houses.    Before  night  the  boats 


JOHN    SMITH.  131 

were  loaded,  and  ere  long  they  weie  again  in 
Jamestown  with  provisions.  They  reached  home 
in  time  to  attend  the  first  wedding  in  Virginia, 
when  John  Laydon  was  married  to  Anne  Burras. 

In  a  little  time,  he  was  off  again  in  company 
with  Captain  Waldo,  with  two  barges  in  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  Corn  w^as  again  his  object,  but  the 
Indians  all  fled  at  the  sight  of  him.  At  length 
he  found  friends  upon  the  Appamatox  river, 
among  that  tribe  of  Indians.  They  had  but  lit- 
tle corn,  yet  they  divided  it  cheerfully  with  him, 
and  in  return  he  gave  them  "  copper,  and  such 
other  toys  as  fully  satisfied  them." 

All  this,  however,  was  but  a  present  supply, 
and  some  of  the  men  w^ere  soon  out  upon  like 
excursions ;  sometimes  wdth  and  often  without 
success.  They  had  some  hardships,  which  w^ere 
accounted  light,  because  they  had  before  them  a 
heavier  one  in  the  fear  of  starvation.  The  sea- 
son was  a  severe  one,  but  in  their  long  excur- 
sions they  ''  camped  out  cheerfully  at  night." 
The  ground  w^as  covered  with  snow,  yet  they 
would  dig  it  away,  make  a  fire  upon  the  earth 
to  warm  it,  clear  away  the  ashes,  and  then 
spread  their  mats  for  sleeping.  When  the  ground 
became  cold  again,  they  w^ould  at  once,  without 
a  murmur,  prepare  another  spot  in  the  same 


132  JOHN    SMITH. 

way.     It  is  said  that  these  hardy  adventurers 
were  the  heahhiest  men  in  the  colony. 

To  make  an  end  of  this  perpetual  anxiety 
about  food,  Smith  resolved  upon  the  bold  ex- 
periment of  seizing  Powhatan  and  all  his  stores. 
He  called  together  some  members  of  the  council, 
and  confidentially  told  them  of  his  intention. 
Waldo  was  greatly  in  favor  of  the  attempt, 
but  Wynne  and  Scrivener  warmly  opposed  it. 
Nevertheless,  his  mind  was  bent  upon  it.  It 
seems  that  Powhatan  had  some  stratagem  at 
work  in  his  own  mind  at  this  time  ;  for  now, 
strangely  enough,  he  sent  inviting  Smith  to 
come  and  see  him,  and  promising  to  load  his 
barge  with  corn  upon  certain  conditions.  These 
were,  that  "  he  would  send  some  workmen  to 
build  him  a  house,  and  would  orive  him  a  orlnd- 
stone,  fifty  swords,  some  muskets,  a  cock  and  a 
hen,  with  much  copper  and  beads.'*  Instantly 
taking  advantage  of  this  message.  Smith  sent  off 
two  Englishmen  and  four  Germans,  to  build  his 
house.  Unfortunately,  however,  as  it  turned  out 
for  his  enterprise,  he  gave  these  men  certain  in- 
structions as  to  their  behavior,  and  told  them  of 
his  whole  plan.  He  at  once  commenced  mak- 
ing preparations  to  follow  them.  As  the  enter- 
prise was  perilous,  he  urged  no  man  to  go,  but 


JOHN    SMITH.  133 

left  all  to  volunteer  for  themselves,  if  they  pleas- 
ed. His  crew,  gathered  in  this  way,  consisted 
of  forty-six  persons,  besides  Captain  Waldo. 
Leaving  Mr.  Scrivener  to  manage  during  his 
absence,  and  taking  with  him  the  necessary  pro- 
visions for  a  few  days,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
December  he  departed  with  the  bark  and  two 
barges. 

The  first  night  they  stopped  at  the  Indian  vil- 
lage, WarraskoyaCk,  not  far  from  Jamestown. 
Here  they  were  treated  with  great  kindness  by 
the  chief  of  the  settlement,  and  received  ad- 
ditions to  their  supplies.  Upon  learning  that 
Smith  was  going  on  a  visit  to  Powhatan,  he 
tried  to  dissuade  him  from  it ;  finding  him  re- 
solute in  his  intention,  he  at  last  said  to  him, 
"  Captain  Smith,  you  shall  find  Powhatan  to  use 
you  kindly,  but  trust  him  not;  and  be  sure  he 
have  no  opportunity  to  seize  on  your  arms,  for 
he  has  sent  for  you  only  to  cut  your  throats." 
Thanking  him  for  his  advice.  Smith  asked  to  be 
furnished  with  a  guide  to  the  Chawonocks,  a  na- 
tion dwelling  between  the  Nottaway  and  Me- 
herrm  rivers,  in  Carolina,  as  he  desired  to  make 
a  friend  of  the  king  of  that  people.  The  guide 
was  found,  and  one  of  the  company  (Michael 
Sicklemore,  an  honest  and  faithful  man)  was 
12 


134  JOHN   SMITH. 

sent  with  h'lm,  bearing  presents,  and  instructions 
to  search  .for  silk-grass,  and  some  one  of  the 
lost  colony  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

The  next  night  they  lodged  at  Kecoughtan. 
Here  they  were  detained  six  or  seven  days  by 
the  wind  and  rain.  During  this  time  they  were 
entertained  merrily  by  the  natives,  and  feasted 
with  them  upon  their  oysters,  fish,  and  wild-fowl. 
At  length,  after  several  accidents,  they  arrived 
on  the  twelfth  of  January  at  Werowocomoco 
They  found  the  river  frozen  nearly  half  a  mile 
from  the  shore  ;  but  Smith,  breaking  the  ice,  ran 
one  of  his  barges  up  as  far  as  he  could,  until  he 
was  "  left  by  the  ebb  upon  the  oozy  shoals."  Di- 
recting two  men  to  remain  with  the  barge,  and 
w^hen  she  should  float  to  put  her  aboard  the 
bark,  cold  as  it  was,  he  leaped  into  the  water. 
His  men  followed  his  example,  and  through  the 
mud  and  ice  they  waded  to  the  shore.  They 
quartered  in  the  first  cabin  which  they  found, 
and  at  once  sent  to  Powhatan  for  provisions. 
He  immediately  supphed  them  with  "  plenty  of 
bread,  turkeys,  and  venison,"  and  they  spent  the 
night  in  tolerable  comfort. 

The  day  following,  Powhatan  feasted  them 
in  fine  style,  and  after  this  asked  them  '^  when 
they  were  going  away."     Neither  he  nor  his 


JOHN   SMITH.  135 

people  (he  said)  had  expected  them,  and  if 
it  was  corn  they  were  in  search  of,  they  had 
none  to  spare.  Smith  rephed,  that  this  was  very 
strange,  and  instantly  produced  the  messengers 
who  had  brought  to  him  Powhatan's  invitation 
and  offer.  The  wily  chief,  thus  confronted, 
endeavored  to  turn  off  his  falsehood  with  a 
laugh,  and  asked  the  Captain  to  "  shew  him  his 
commodities."  After  looking  at  many  things, 
he  seemed  to  value  nothing  but  the  guns  and 
swords.  As  for  the  copper  which  was  shewn  to 
him,  he  told  Smith  plainly  that  he  "  valued  a 
basket  of  corn  higher  than  a  basket  of  copper." 
The  Captain  was  of  course  indignant  at  such 
behavior,  and  spoke  to  the  chief  quite  as  plain- 
ly in  return.  He  told  him  that  he  might  have 
procured  provisions,  in  many  places,  but  relying 
on  his  promises, had  neglected  to  do  so;  and  that 
at  his  request  he  had  at  once  sent  men  to  build 
his  houses,  while  his  own  w^ere  unfinished.  He 
then  charged  him  boldly  with  keeping  back  his 
people's  corn-  and  forbidding  them  to  trade, 
''  thmking  by  consuming  time  to  consume  them ;" 
that  as  for  swords  and  guns,  he  had  none  to 
spare,  and  that  he  must  be  aware  that  those  he 
had  could  keep  him  from  starving.  Yet,  he  de- 
clared, he  would  neither  rob  nor  wrong  him,  nor 


136  JOHN   SMITH. 

in  any  way  break  the  friendship  between  them 
unless  he  was  compelled  to  do  so  by  unkind 
treatment.  The  king  listened  attentively  to  all 
he  said,  and  promised  that  he  and  his  people 
should  spare  him  all  the  corn  they  could  part  with, 
and  that  he  should  receive  it  in  two  days.  "But 
I  have  some  doubt  (said  he)  about  the  reason  of 
your  coming  hither.  I  am  informed  from  many 
hands,  that  you  come,  not  to  trade,  but  to  invade 
my  people,  and  to  possess  my  country.  This 
makes  me  less  ready  to  relieve  you,  and  frightens 
my  people  from  bringing  in  their  corn.  And 
therefore,  to  ease  them  of  that  fear,  leave  your 
arms  aboard,  since  they  are  needless  here,  where 
we  are  all  friends,  and  for  ever  Powhatans." 

Smith  was  not  aware  that  Powhatan  knew 
his  intentions,  nor  did  he,  until  six  montlis  after- 
wards, learn  that  at  that  very  instant  the  chief 
understood  his  w^hole  design.  The  truth  was, 
the  Germans  had  betrayed  him.  These  men, 
perceiving  the  abundance  of  Powhatan,  had  con- 
cluded that  it  was  better  to  have  the  friendship 
of  such  a  chief,  than  to  hang  on  to  a  half  starv- 
ing colony,  and  had  therefore  opened  the  whole 
design  of  the  English.  This  baseness  was  not 
at  all  suspected,  for  Smith  had  great  confidence 
in  these  Germans,  and  had  especially  charged 


JOHN    SMITH. 


137 


one  of  them,  before  leaving  Jamestown,  to  act 
as  a  spy  upon  Powhatan. 

After  this,  while  waiting  for  the  people  to 
come  in,  he  managed  to  purchase  of  the  chief 
about  eighty  bushels  of  corn,  with  an  old  copper 
kettle.  Smith  declared  that  the  kettle  was 
worth  far  more,  but,  considering  the  scarcit}^, 
agreed  to  part  with  it,  provided  that  Powhatan 
would  promise  to  give  him  as  much  more  corn 
the  next  year.  This  promise  he  readily  gave, 
and  the  trade  was  made. 

But  Powhatan  still  continued  to  urge  him  to 
lay  aside  his  arms.  "  Captain  Smith,  (said  he,) 
I  am  a  very  old  man,  having  seen  the  death  of 
three  of  the  generations  of  my  people.  None  of 
these  is  now  living  except  myself,  and  I  know 
the  difference  between  peace  and  war  better 
than  any  in  my  country.  But  now  I  am  old, 
and  ere  long  must  die,  and  my  brethren,  Opit- 
chapan,  Opechancanough,  and  Kekataugh,  and 
my  two  sisters,  and  their  daughters,  must  suc- 
ceed me.  I  wish  their  experience  no  less  than 
mine,  and  your  love  to  them  no  less  than  mine 
to  you.  But  the  rumor  that  has  reached  us, 
that  you  are  come  to  destroy  my  country,  has 
frightened  my  people,  and  they  dare  not  visit 
you.  What  will  it  profit  you  to  take  by  force 
12* 


138  JOHN   SMITH. 

what  you  may  quickly  have  by  love,  or  to  de- 
stroy them  that  provide  you  food  ?  What  can 
you  get  by  war,  when  we  can  hide  our  pro- 
visions and  fly  to  the  woods?  whereby  you 
must  famish  by  wronging  us  your  friends.  And 
why  are  you  so  suspicious  of  our  loves  ?  seeing 
that  we  are  unarmed,  and  ready  to  feed  you  with 
that  you  cannot  get  but  by  our  labors.  Do 
you  think  I  am  so  simple  as  not  to  know  it  is 
better  to  eat  good  meat,  lie  well,  and  sleep 
quietly  with  my  women  and  children,  laugh  and 
be  merry  with  you,  have  copper,  hatchets,  or 
what  I  want,  being  your  friend,  than  to  be  forced 
as  your  enemy  to  fly  from  all ;  to  lie  cold  in  the 
woods,  to  feed  upon  acorns,  roots,  and  such  trash, 
and  be  so  hunted  by  you,  that  I  can  neither  rest, 
eat,  nor  sleep,  but  my  tired  men  must  watch, 
and,  if  a  twig  but  break,  every  one  cries  out, 
'  There  comes  Captain  Smith ;'  then  I  must  fly 
I  know  not  whither,  and  thus  with  miserable 
fear  end  my  miserable  life.  Be  assured  then,  of 
our  loves.  Every  year  Ave  can  supply  you  with 
corn,  and  now  too  we  are  ready  to  give  it,  if 
you  would  only  come  into  our  country  in  a  peace- 
ful way.  We  are  not  your  enemies,  therefore 
lay  aside  your  arms." 

To  this  speech  Captain  Smith  answered  in  the 


JOHN  SMITH.  139 

following  words :  "  Since  you  will  not  rightly 
understand  our  words,  we  must  strive  to  make 
you  know  our  thoughts  by  our  deeds.  The  vow 
I  made  you  of  my  love,  both  myself  and  my 
men  have  kept ;  as  for  your  promise,  I  find  it 
every  day  violated  by  s6me  of  your  subjects. 
Yet  we  have  never  been  ungrateful  for  your 
kindness,  and  for  your  sake  only  have  we  curbed 
our  revenge ;  else  they  had  known  as  well  the 
cruelty  we  use  to  our  enemies,  as  our  true  love 
and  courtesy  to  our  friends.  You  must  under- 
stand, as  well  by  the  adventures  we  have  un- 
dertaken, as  by  the  advantage  we  have  by  our 
arms,  that  had  we  intended  you  any  injury,  we 
could  long  since  have  effected  it.  Your  people 
coming  to  Jamestown  bring  their  bows  and  ar- 
rows, and  no  complaint  is  made.  It  is  our  cus- 
tom to  wear  our  arms  as  our  apparel.  As  for 
the  danger  of  our  enemies,  in  such  wars  consist 
our  chiefest  pleasure ;  and  for  your  riches,  we 
have  no  use.  As  to  your  flying  to  the  woods 
and  hiding  your  provisions,  that  would  not  hurt 
us,  for  we  have  a  way  of  finding  hidden  things 
which  you  do  not  understand." 

They  soon  now  began  to  trade;  but  Powhatan 
finding  that  he  could  not  have  his  own  way — 
that  Smith  Avas  still  obstinate,  and  would  not  al- 


140  JOHN   SMITH. 

low  his  men  to  put  away  their  arms,  broke  out 
again.  "  Captain  Smith,  I  never  used  any  chief 
so  kindly  as  yourself;  yet,  from  you,  I  receive 
the  least  kindness  of  any.  Captain  Newport 
gave  me  swords,  copper,  clothes,  or  whatever 
else  I  desired,  ever  accepting  what  I  offered 
him,  and  would  send  away  his  guns  when  re- 
quested. No  one  refuses  to  lie  at  my  feet,  or  to 
do  what  I  demand,  but  you  only.  Of  you  I  can 
have  nothing,  but  what  you  value  not,  and  yet 
you  have  whatever  you  please.  Captain  New- 
port you  call  father,  and  so  you  call  me ;  but  I 
can  see,  in  spite  of  us  both,  you  will  do  what  you 
will,  and  we  must  both  study  to  humor  and 
please  you.  If  you  intend  so  friendly  as  you  say, 
send  away  your  arms." 

Smith  now  perceived  that  Powhatan  was  only 
trifling,  that  he  might  gain  time  to  get  him  in 
his  possession.  He  therefore  procured  some  In- 
dians to  break  the  ice,  that  his  boat  might  come 
in  to  take  away  his  corn,  and  at  the  same  time 
gave  secret  orders  for  more  men  to  come  ashore 
to  surprise  the  king.  In  the  mean  time,  to  allay 
all  suspicion,  he  entertained  the  chief  with  much 
good  humored  talk,  promising  the  next  day  to 
lay  aside  his  aims,  and  to  shew,  by  trusting  in 
his  word,  that  he  loved  him,  and  confided  in  him 


JOHN   SMITH.  141 

as  a  father.  But  hearing  that  they  were  break- 
ing the  ice,  Powhatan  became  alarmed,  and 
hurried  away  with  his  women,  children,  and 
luggage.  Yet,  to  avoid  suspicion,  he  left  two 
or  three  of  his  women  talking  with  the  Captain, 
while  he  secretly  ran  off,  and  in  a  little  time  his 
warriors  as  secretly  surrounded  the  house  where 
they  were  talking.  As  soon  as  Smith  discovered 
this,  he  sallied  out  with  his  pistol,  sword,  and 
shield.  "  At  his  first  shot,  those  next  him  tum- 
bled one  over  another,  and  the  rest  fled  nimbly 
off,  some  one  way,  some  another."  Thus,  with- 
out any  injury,  he  fought  his  way  to  the  main 
body  of  his  men. 

Finding  that  he  had  escaped  in  spite  of  their 
efforts,  an  attempt  was  now  made  on  the  part 
of  the  savages  to  excuse  this  strange  treatment. 
An  old  warrior  was  sent  to  him  by  Powhatan, 
bearing  a  large  bracelet  and  chain  of  pearl, 
who  delivered  to  him  the  following  message : 
*'■  Captain  Smith,  our  king  has  fled  for  fear  of 
your  guns.  Knowing,  when  the  ice  was  open, 
there  would  come  more  men  ashore,  he  sent  the 
warriors,  whom  you  assaulted,  to  guard  your  corn 
from  being  stolen,  which  thing  might  happen 
without  your  knowledge.  Some  of  our  men 
have  been  hurt  by  your  mistake,  yet  Powhatan 


142  JOHN   SMITH. 

is  still  your  friend,  and  wi.l  for  ever  continue  so. 
He  now  desires  that  (since  the  ice  is  open) you  will 
send  away  your  corn;  and  if  you  expect  his 
company,  that  you  will  also  send  away  your 
guns,  which  so  frighten  his  people,  that  they 
are  afraid  to  bring  in  their  corn  as  he  promised 
they  should." 

Baskets  were  now  cheerfully  provided  for  the 
English  to  carry  the  corn  to  the  boat.  The  savages 
kindly  offered  to  guard  their  arms  while  they 
were  thus  employed,  but  this  of  course  was  not 
allowed.  Smith  had  other  business  for  them. 
They  were  a  cowardly  set,  easily  frightened  "  at 
the  sight  of  the  English  cocking  their  matches," 
and  in  a  little  time  were  all  at  work,  with  the 
baskets  on  their  shoulders,  cheerfully  and  rapidly 
loading  the  boats  themselves.  This  being  finish- 
ed, Smith  found  that  he  must  wait  till  late  in  the 
evening  for  the  next  tide,  before  his  boat  could 
move  off,  and  in  the  mean  time  he,  with  his  men, 
repaired  to  their  old  quarters  at  the  cabin. 

Powhatan  was  still  eager  to  have  him  in  his 
possession ;  he  thought,  if  he  could  seize  him,  the 
colony  was  at  once  destroyed,  and  was  prepar- 
ing that  night  to  surprise  and  take  him.  The 
treacherous  Germans  also  desired  it,  and  were 
ready  to  assist  him  in  any  plot.     The  plan  was 


JOHxV   SMITH.  143 

to  send  at  night  some  strong  men  with  the  pre- 
sent of  a  rich  supper  from  the  chief  to  Smith ; 
while  he  was  eating,  these  men  were  to  seize 
him.  If  they  failed  in  doing  this,  Powhatan, 
with  his  forces,  was  to  come  down  and  take 
him.  The  night  proved  dark  and  dismal,  as  if 
to  aid  this  stratagem.  But  the  providence  of 
God  had  raised  for  Smith  a  friend,  who  would 
not  wiUingly  see  him  destroyed.  The  friend- 
ship of  Pocahontas  again  served  him.  In  the  midst 
of  the  darkness  she  came  alone  through  the 
woods,  and  told  Smith  of  the  whole  plan.  "  Good 
cheer  (she  said)  would  be  sent  to  them  soon; 
but  that  Powhatan,  with  all  the  forces  he  could 
raise,  would  soon  come  to  kill  them  all,  if  those 
who  brought  the  victuals  could  not  effect  it  with 
their  own  arms  while  they  were  at  supper."  As 
they  valued  their  lives,  therefore,  she  "  begged 
them  to  be  o-one."  Grateful  for  her  noble-hearted 
generosity.  Smith  offered  her  many  presents,  but 
she  refused  them  all.  With  tears  running  down 
her  cheeks,  she  declared  that  she  could  not  re- 
ceive them ;  that  she  dared  not  be  seen  with 
them,  for  if  her  father  should  in  any  way  dis- 
cover that  she  had  opened  his  plot,  he  would  in- 
stantly kill  her — "  and  so  she  ran  away  by  her- 
self as  she  came." 


144  JOHN    SMITH. 

Within  less  than  an  hour,  ten  strong  men 
came  down,  bringing  large  platters  of  venison 
and  other  victuals.  Spreading  them  before  Smith, 
they  invited  him  and  his  companions  to  sit  down 
and  eat ;  begging  them  at  the  same  time  to  put 
out  their  matches,  the  smoke  of  w^hich  (they  said) 
made  them  sick.  But  Smith  made  them  taste 
of  every  dish,  to  see  if  it  was  poisoned,  and  then 
sent  some  of  them  back  to  Powhatan,  telling 
him  "  to  make  haste,  for  he  w^as  ready  for  his 
coming."  Soon  after  more  messengers  came 
do\vn  to  learn  the  news,  and  not  long  after  others; 
but  the  English  kept  up  a  steady  watch  through 
the  night,  and  Powhatan's  plan  w^as  defeated. 
Not  one  of  his  men  dared  strike  a  blow\ 

At  high  water  the  boat  departed,  leaving  the 
vagabond  Germans  still  behind,  (whose  treachery 
was  not  yet  suspected,)  to  complete  the  house  of 
the  crafty  chief. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Powhatan  by  stratagem  obtains  arms  at  James- 
town — Smith  visits  Opechancanough — Treach' 
ery  of  the  chief — Fearless  behavior  of  Smith-^ 
Accident  at  Jamestown — Returns  home — Re- 
bukes  the  colonists  for  idleness,  and  sets  them 
to  work — Treachery  of  four  Germans — Smith 
attempts  to  seize  one  of  them — Is  attacked  by 
the  chief  of  the  Pashiphays — After  a  hard 
struggle  captures  the  chief  and  puts  him  in 
chains — The  chief  escapes — Meets  the  Paship- 
hays— Speech  of  Okaning — Incidents  at  James- 
town— Industry  of  the  colonists — Want  of 
food — Kindness  of  Powhatan — Mutinous  con- 
duct of  some  of  the  colonists — Smith  checks  it 
— Plot  to  destroy  Jamestown — Is  discovered 
and  stopped — Arrival  of  Captain  Argall. 

They  had  scarcely  set  sail  when  Powhatan 

despatched  two  of  the  Germans  to  Jamestown. 

These  plaj-ed  their  parts  well  for  him.     They 

pretended  to  Captain  Wynne  that  all  things 

13 


146  JOHN    SMITH. 

-were  well,  but  that  Captain  Smith  had  need  for 
more  arms,  and  therefore  desired  he  would  send 
them,  together  with  some  spare  tools  and  changes 
of  clothing.  As  their  treachery  was  not  sus- 
pected, the  articles  were  of  course  delivered  to 
them.  Then  they  set  to  work  privately  to  beat 
up  recruits  among  the  colonists,  and  by  talking 
of  the  greatness  of  Powhatan,  and  the  poor  pros- 
pects of  the  colony,  managed  to  draw  off  some 
six  or  seven.  These,  however,  were  worthless 
men,  and  no  loss  to  the  colony.  Yet  they  were 
of  great  service  to  Powhatan,  for  being  expert 
thieves,  they  managed  to  steal  for  him  fifty 
swords,  eight  muskets,  eight  pikes,  and  a  quan- 
tity of  powder  and  shot.  Indians  were  always 
lurking  around  the  settlement,  and  the  articles 
being  delivered  to  them,  were  readily  carried 
oflf.  At  the  same  time  Powhatan  kept  one  of 
the  Germans  (who  was  a  blacksmith)  very  busy 
at  Werowocomoco,  working  at  his  trade.  Three 
hundred  tomahawks  were  made  by  him,  and 
these,  together  with  the  weapons  that  had 
been  stolen,  gave  to  the  king  quite  a  supply  of 
arms. 

In  the  mean  time  Captain  Smith  had  gone  with 
his  party  to  Pamunkey,  the  home  of  Opechanca- 
nough.     He  was  received  kindly  by  this  chief, 


JOHN   SMITH.  147 

and  entertained  with  hospitality.  A  day  was 
soon  set  apart  for  their  trading.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time,  Smith,  with  fifteen  others,  went  up 
to  the  house  of  Opechancanough,  in  the  village, 
which  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  river. 
They  found  here  "  nothing  but  a  lame  man  and 
a  boy ;"  all  the  houses  having  been  stripped  of 
every  thing  and  deserted.  Presently  the  chief 
came,  and  after  him  several  of  his  people,  laden 
principally  with  bows  and  arrows.  They  had 
with  them  some  articles  of  traffic,  but  these 
were  so  trifling,  and  offered  at  such  high  prices, 
that  Smith  at  once  told  Opechancanough,  that 
the  professions  of  his  tongue  were  proved  by 
his  actions  to  be  mere  deceit.  "Last  year 
(said  he)  you  kindly  freighted  my  vessel,  but 
have  now  treacherously  invited  me  here  to 
famish  and  destroy  me.  You  are  not  ignorant 
of  my  wants,  rveither  am  I  ignorant  of  your 
plenty,  of  which,  by  some  means,  I  will  have  a 
part.  You  should  remember,  that  it  is  proper  for 
kings,  above  all  others,  to  keep  their  promises. 
I  offer  you  all  my  commodities — you  may  take 
your  choice — the  rest  I  will  divide  fairly  among 
your  people."  Opechancanough  seemed  kindly 
to  accept  his  offer,  and,  to  cover  his  designs,  at 
once  sold  Smith  all  that  he  then  had  at  his  own 


148  JOHN    SMITH. 

prices,  and  promised  to  meet  him  the  next  day 
with  more  people  and  more  articles 

At  the  appointed  time  Smith,  with  the  same  fif- 
teen men,  marched  up  to  the  king's  house,  where 
he  found  four  or  five  Indians  just  arrived,  each 
with  a  large  basket.  Soon  after  the  king  came  in, 
and  began,  with  apparent  cheerfulness,  to  tell 
what  great  trouble  he  had  taken  to  keep  his 
promise.  This  talk  was  suddenly  cut  short, 
when  Mr.  Russel,  one  of  the  party,  came  run- 
ning in,  telling  Smith  that  the  house  w^as 
surrounded  by  seven  hundred  armed  savages. 
Some  of  his  men  were  alarmed  and  began  to 
look  pale,  but  Smith  was  undaunted.  Rally- 
ing them,  he  addressed  them  in  the  following 
w^ords : 

"  Worthy  countrymen,  I  feel  far  less  concern 
at  the  number  and  danger  of  the  enemy,  than  at 
the  malicious  representations  which  the  Council 
and  their  open  mouthed  minions  will  make  in 
England,  about  my  breaking  the  peace.  I, 
alone,  was  once  assaulted  by  three  hundred  sav- 
ages, and,  had  it  not  been  for  an  accident,  w^ould 
have  made  my  way  good  among  them  all.  We 
are  now  sixteen,  and  the  enemy  but  seven  hun- 
dred at  the  most.  I  desire,  therefore,  that  you 
will  fight  like  men,  and  not  die  like  sheep.     If 


JOHN   SMITH.  149 

}'0u  dare  follow  my  example,  and  do  as  I  do,  I 
doubt  not,  by  God's  assistance,  to  extricate  you 
out  of  the  present  difficulty  and  danger." 

The  men  were  instantly  roused  and  ready  to 
brave  any  danger.  They  all  vowed  "  to  do 
whatever  he  attempted  or  die."  Then  turning 
to  the  chief,  he  said,  "  I  see,  Opechancanough, 
your  plot  to  murder  me,  but  I  am  not  afraid.  As 
yet  your  men  and  mine  have  done  no  harm,  but 
by  our  direction.  Let  us  decide  this  matter  by 
single  combat.  Take,  therefore,  your  arms — 
you  see  mine — my  body  shall  be  as  naked  as 
yours — you  may  choose  your  Aveapons.  The 
isle  in  your  river  is  a  fit  place  for  the  fight,  if 
you  please.  Let  your  men  bring  baskets  of 
corn.  I  will  stake  their  value  in  copper,  and 
the  conqueror  shall  be  lord  and  master  of  all  the 
men  and  all  the  commodities." 

This  bold  challenge  was  declined  by  Opechan- 
canough. He  had  no  idea  of  losing  the  ad- 
vantage that  he  had.  Still  pretending  friend- 
ship, he  urged  Smith  to  go  with  him  outside  of 
the  door,  and  there  receive  a  present  which  his 
people  had  brought  for  him.  This  was  done 
only  to  draw  him  out,  where  two  hundred  men 
stood,  with  their  arrows  resting  in  their  bows, 
ready  to  despatch  him.  Smith,  perceiving  the 
13* 


150  JOHN   SMITH. 

treachery,  instantly  seized  the  king  by  bis  scalp- 
lock,  and  presenting  his  pistol,  ready  cocked,  to 
bis  breast,  dragged  "  him  trembling  and  half 
dead  with  fear,"  into  the  midst  of  his  people. 
Startled  that  any  one  should  be  bold  enough  to 
use  their  king  in  this  manner,  the  savages  at 
once  threw  down  their  bows  and  arrows,  and 
Opechancanough  was  glad  to  save  himself  by  de- 
livering: all  his  armor  in  token  of  submission. 
Still  holding  the  trembling  chief  by  the  hair^ 
Smith  thus  addressed  his  people  :  "  I  see  ye, 
Pamunkeys,  the  great  desire  you  have  to  kill 
me,  and  that,  my  long  suffering  hath  emboldened 
you  to  this  insolence.  The  reason  I  have  for- 
borne to  punish  you,  is  the  promise  I  made  you, 
(before  the  God  I  serve,)  that  I  would  be  your 
friend,  till  you  gave  me  just  cause  to  be  your 
enemy.  If  I  keep  this  vow,  my  God  will  keep 
me — you  cannot  hurt  me ;  but  if  I  break  it,  he 
will  destroy  me.  But  if  you  shoot  one  arrow,  to 
shed  one  drop  of  blood  of  any  of  my  men,  or  steal 
the  least  of  these  beads,  or  this  copper,  I  will  take 
such  revenge  (if  I  once  begin)  that  you  shall  not 
hear  the  last  of  me  while  there  is  a  Pamunkey 
alive.  I  am  not  now  half  drowned  in  the  mire,  as 
when  you  took  me  prisoner.  If  I  be  the  mark  you 
aim  at,  here  I  stand — shoot  he  that  dares.     You 


JOa^  SMITH.  151 

promised  to  load  my  bark  with  corn;  and 
so  you  shall,  or  I  will  load  her  with  your  dead 
carcasses.  Yet,  if  as  friends  you  will  trade,  I 
once  more  promise  that  I  will  not  trouble  you, 
unless  you  give  me  good  cause  ;  and  your  king 
shall  be  free  and  be  my  friend,  for  I  am  not 
come  to  hurt  him  or  any  of  you." 

This  speech   made  a  wonderful  impression. 
The  Indians  were  suddenly  disposed  to  be  great 
friends.   Men,  women,  and  even  children  brought 
to  him  their  articles  of  traffic,  and  "  for  three 
hours  so  thronged  around  him  and  wearied  him," 
th?t  at  last  he  was  forced,  in  self-defence,  to  re- 
tire into  the  house,  that  he  might  rest,  leaving 
others  to  trade  and  receive  their  presents.    He 
soon  now  fell  asleep.     While  sleeping,  some 
fifty  Indians,  armed  with  clubs  and  swords,  man- 
aged to  get  into  the  house,  evidently  with  the 
design  of  murdering  him.     Roused  by  the  noise, 
he  sprang  up,  seized  his  sword  and  target,  and 
soon  drove  them  out  faster  than  they  came  in. 
Opechanranough,  with  some  of  the  old  warriors, 
endeavored,  in  a  long  talk,  to  excuse  this  con- 
duct.    "  The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  with 
much  kindness,  the  Indians  renewing  their  pre- 
sents, and  feasting  the  English  with  their  best 
provisions." 


152  JOHN  SMITH. 

While  these  things  were  going  on,  a  sad  ac- 
cident had  happened  at  the  fort,  of  which  Smith 
now  heard.  It  seems  that  Mr.  Scrivener  had 
received  letters  from  England  by  the  last  ship, 
which  gave  him  a  great  idea  of  his  own  import- 
ance ;  and  though  Smith  loved  him  as  a  brother, 
Scrivener  had  learned  to  dislike  him.  These 
letters  (it  is  said)  "made  him  conceited  and 
headstrong."  On  a  cold  and  boisterous  day,  he 
determined  to  visit  Hog  Island,  not  far  from 
Jamestown,  and  in  spite  of  all  remonstrance, 
persuaded  Captain  Waldo  and  nine  others  to 
accompany  him  in  the  skiff.  She  was  so 
overloaded  that  she  could  scarcely  have  lived 
in  calm  weather;  as  it  w^as,  she  sunk,  and  all 
on  board  were  drowned.  It  was  difficult  to 
find  any  one  to  carry  the  sorrowful  news  to 
the  President,  until  at  last  INIr.  Richard  Wiffin 
undertook  to  do  it.  He  encountered  many 
difficulties  and  dangers  as  he  passed  toward 
W^erowocomoco,  where  he  expected  to  find 
him.  Here  his  danger  was  greater,  for  he 
found  the  people  engaged  in  preparation  for 
war,  and  escaped  being  seized  only  by  the  kind- 
ness of  Pocahontas.  She  managed  to  hide  him, 
at  the  same  time  "  sending  those  who  were  in 
search  of  him  a  contrary  way."     After  three 


JOHN    SMITH.  153 

day's  travel  he  now  reached  Smith  at  Pamun- 
key,  and  gave  him  the  melancholy  tidings.  He 
was  very  sad,  but  prudently  took  from  Wiffin  a 
promise  that  he  would  not  tell  his  men.  Hid- 
ing his  grief  as  well  as  he  could  through  the 
day,  when  night  came  he  set  Opechancanough 
at  liberty,  as  he  had  promised,  and  went  with 
his  men  on  board  the  bark. 

Smith's  heart  was  still  bent  on  seizing  Pow- 
hatan, and  he  watched  for  his  opportunity  as  he 
now  returned  down  the  river.  It  seems  that 
Powhatan  was  equally  anxious  to  secure  him, 
and  had  threatened  some  of  his  men  with  death, 
if  they  did  not  kill  him.  Both  parties  conse- 
quently being  on  the  look  out,  no  harm  was  done 
on  either  side.  The  Indians  (it  is  said)  so 
dreaded  Captain  Smith  that  they  were  afraid  to 
attack  him,  even  at  the  command  of  Powhatan, 
and  were  loading  him  with  presents  if  he  seemed 
the  least  angry.  Some  of  them,  however,  made 
an  effort  to  despatch  him  in  a  quiet  way  by 
poisoning  him.  Fortunately  he  was  only  made 
sick,  and  threw  the  poison  from  his  stomach. 
In  a  little  time  he  caught  Wecuttanow,  (the  In- 
dian who  had  brought  him  the  poisoned  food  as 
a  present,)  and  whipped  him  severely. 

On  the   way  between   Werowocomoco    and 


154  JOHN  sMrrH. 

Jamestown  they  met  four  or  five  of  the  colonists, 
\vlio  were  in  league  wath  the  treacherous  Ger- 
mans, then  on  their  way  to  Powhatan.  The  traitors, 
to  avoid  suspicion,  at  once  agreed  to  return  with 
them  to  the  fort.  They  were  soon  quietly 
moored  at  Jamestown,  where,  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  colony,  they  delivered  over  to  the  keeper  of 
the  public  stores  two  hundred  pounds  of  deer's 
suet,  and  four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  bushels 
of  corn.  They  had  gained  so  much  by  their 
perilous  adventures. 

As  usual,  Smith's  presence  was  needed  at  James- 
town. The  provisions  there  had  been  much  in- 
jured by  the  rain,  rats,  and  worms,  and  many  of 
their  tools  had  been  stolen  and  carried  off  by  the 
Indians.  These  things,  together  with  the  loss 
of  Scrivener  and  his  party,  had  much  discouraged 
the  people.  The  supplies  w^hich  Smith  had 
brought  home,  together  with  the  damaged  pro- 
visions, (which  w^ere  not  to  be  thrown  away,) 
were  found  ample  to  sustain  them  for  one  year 
All  fears  of  starving,  therefore,  for  the  present 
being  dismissed,  he  at  once  commenced  vigor- 
ously attending  to  other  matters. 

As  he  looked  upon  idleness  as  one  great  cause 
of  their  trouble,  he  now  called  them  all  before 
him,  and  told  them,  "  that  their  late  experience 


JOHN   SMITH.  155 

and  misery  were  sufficient  to  persuade  every  one 
to  mend  his  ways;  that  they  must  not  think 
that  either  his  pains  or  the  purses  of  the  adven- 
turers at  home  would  for  ever  maintain  them  in 
sloth  and  idleness;  that  he  knew  that  many  de- 
served more  honor  and  a  better  reward  than  was 
yet  to  be  had,  but  that  far  the  greatest  part  of 
them  must  be  more  industrious  or  starve ;  that  it 
was  not  reasonable  that  the  labors  of  thirty  or  forty 
honest  and  industrious  men  should  be  consumed, 
to  maintain  one  hundred  and  fifty  loiterers ;  and 
that,  therefore,  every  one  that  would  not  work 
should  not  eat ;  that  they  had  often  been  screen- 
ed and  protected  in  their  disobedience  to  his  just 
and  necessary  commands  by  the  authority  of  the 
council,  but  that  now  all  being  either  dead  or 
gone,  except  Captain  Wynne  and  himself,  that 
whole  power  rested,  in  effect,  solely  in  him.  He 
therefore  advised  them  not  to  feed  themselves  up 
with  the  vain  presumption  that  his  authority  was 
but  a  shadow,  and  that  his  life  must  answer  for 
theirs ;  for  the  letters  patent  and  other  powers 
would  prove  the  contrary,  and  should  every 
week  be  read  to  them;  and  every  one  that  of- 
fended might  assuredly  expect  his  due  punish- 
ment." 

He  then  divided  them   all  into   companies. 


156  JOHN   SMITH. 

Six  hours  of  each  clay  were  to  be  spent  in  labor, 
the  rest  in  pastime  and  amusement.  To  encour- 
age them  the  more,  he  kept  a  book,  in  which  he 
registered  every  man's  daily  conduct,  that  he 
might  animate  the  good,  and  spur  on  the  rest  by 
shame.  Most  of  them,  after  this,  became  very 
industrious. 

They  still,  however,  missed  arms  and  tools 
from  time  to  time,  and  at  length  discovered  that 
they  were  continually  stolen  by  some  of  the 
friends  of  the  Germans,  and  carried  to  Pow- 
hatan. You  will  remember  that  Smith  and  his 
party  had  brought  back,  on  their  return,  some 
men,  then  on  their  way  to  Werowocomoco. 
These  had  been  expected  by  the  Germans  there, 
and  wondering  what  had  become  of  them,  one 
of  the  Germans  (by  the  advice  of  Powhatan)  had 
disguised  himself  as  an  Indian,  and  come  down 
as  far  as  the  glass-house,  to  learn,  if  possible, 
what  had  delayed  them.  This  glass-house  was 
about  a  mile  from  Jamestown,  and  was  the 
common  place  of  meeting  for  these  villains. 
Smith,  hearing  of  this,  started  with  twenty 
chosen  men  to  arrest  him,  while  some  forty  In- 
dians, in  some  way  learning  that  he  was  com- 
ing, lay  in  ambush  to  seize  him.  Arriving  at 
the  glass-house,  he  found  that  the  German  had 


JOHN   SMITH.  157 

escaped,  and  sent  his  men  after  him  to  take  nim 
before  he  should  reach  Powhatan.  In  the  mean 
time,  armed  only  with  his  sword,  he  started  alone 
toward  Jamestown.  In  his  way  he  met  the 
chief  of  the  Pashiphays,  a  man  of  great  size  and 
strength.  At  first  he  endeavored  to  draw  the 
captain  into  the  ambush,  but  failing  in  that, 
tried  to  shoot  him.  Seeing  this.  Smith  instantly 
closed  in  and  grappled  with  him.  It  was  im- 
possible for  either  of  them  to  use  weapons.  It 
was  a  bare  contest  of  strength,  and  the  Indian 
being  the  strongest,  dragged  him  into  the  river, 
hoping  to  drown  him.  They  had  now  a  fierce 
struggle  in  the  water,  until  at  last  Smith  got 
hold  of  the  savage's  throat,  and  almost  strangled 
him.  Then  "  disengaging  himself,  he  drew  his 
sword,"  and  would  have  killed  him,  but  the  poor 
chief  begged  piteously  for  his  life,  and  he  con- 
sented to  spare  him.  He  led  him,  however,  as 
a  prisoner  to  Jamestown,  and  put  him  in  chains. 
In  the  mean  time  his  men  had  taken  the  Ger- 
man, and  brought  him  in  also  as  a  prisoner,  and 
his  treachery  was  at  once  made  known  by  the 
confession  of  the  captive  chief.  Upon  this, 
Smith  sent  a  message  to  Powhatan,  offering  im- 
mediately to  release  the  chief,  if  he  would  sur- 
render the  treacherous  Germans.  But  this  he 
14 


158  JOHN   SMITH. 

was  as  unwilling  to  do,  as  the  Germans  were  tc 
come  to  Jamestown.  While  this  was  going  on, 
the  chief  of  the  Pashiphays  managed  to  make 
his  escape.  Efforts  were  made  to  recapture 
him,  but  to  no  purpose.  Captain  W'^nne  and 
Lieutenant  Percy,  however,  to  punish  him  and 
his  tribe  for  his  insolence,  marched  with  a  body 
of  fifty  men  into  their  country,  slew  many  of  the 
peoplej  burnt  their  houses,  and  took  their  canoes 
and  fishing  weirs.  Returning  to  Jamestown,  they 
set  up  these  weirs  for  their  own  benefit. 

Not  long  after  this,  as  Smith  was  passing  on 
his  way  to  the  Chickahominy  River,  he  was 
assaulted  by  the  Pashiphays;  but  as  soon  as 
they  knew  him,  they  threw  down  their  bows 
and  arrows,  and  sued  for  peace.  One  of 
them  (a  young  fellow  named  Okaning)  came 
forward  and  thus  addressed  him  : — '*  Captain 
Smith,  the  chief,  my  master,  is  here  among  us. 
He  attacked  you,  mistaking  you  for  Captain 
Wynne,  who  has  pursued  us  in  war  and  injured 
us.  If  he  has  offended  you  by  escaping  from 
prison,  I  beg  you  will  consider  that  the  fish  swim, 
the  fowls  fly,  and  the  very  beasts  strive  to  esca}>e 
the  snare  and  live;  then  blame  not  him,  being 
a  man.  Remember  what  pains  he  took  to  save 
your  life,  when  you  were  a  prisoner.     If  he  has 


JOHN   SMITH.  159 

injured  you  since,  you  have  been  amply  revenged, 
to  our  great  loss.  We  know  that  you  are  de- 
termined to  destroy  us,  but  we  are  here  to  entreat 
your  friendship,  and  beg  that  we  may  enjoy  our 
houses  and  plant  our  fields.  You  shall  share  the 
fruits ;  but  if  you  drive  us  off,  you  will  be  the 
worse  for  our  absence.  Though  it  may  cost  us 
more  labor,  we  can  plant  anywhere ;  but  we 
know^  you  cannot  live  unless  you  have  our  har- 
vests to  supply  your  wants.  If  you  promise  us 
peace  we  will  believe  you :  if  you  proceed  in 
revenge,  we  will  quit  the  country."  Smith  at 
once  promised  peace  if  they  w^ould  do  no  farther 
injury,  and  bring  in  provisions  to  the  fort.  To 
this  they  gladly  agreed,  and  then  parted  good 
friends.  This  friendship  continued  (it  is  said) 
till  Smith  left  the  country. 

Upon  his  return  to  Jamestown,  an  incident 
occurred,  which  served  to  make  him  a  still  greater 
man  among  the  Indians.  A  pistol,  it  seems,  had 
been  stolen  by  one  of  the  Chickahominy  tribe, 
and  the  thief  had  escaped,  while  his  two  bro- 
thers, who  were  known  to  be  his  companions, 
were  seized.  Retaining  one  as  a  hostage. 
Smith  sent  the  other  in  search  of  the  pistol, 
telling  him  if  he  did  not  return  with  it  in 
twelve   hours,  his   brother   should  be  hanged. 


160  JOHN    SMITH. 

As  the  weather  was  cold,  a  charcoal  fire  was 
made  in  the  dungeon  where  the  prisoner  was 
confined.  The  gas  from  the  coal  caused  him  to 
faint  away,  and  when  his  brother  in  a  little  time 
returned  with  the  pistol,  he  was  in  great  agony, 
supposing  him  to  be  dead.  To  comfort  him, 
Captain  Smith  told  him,  that  if  he  would  steal 
no  more,  he  would  recover  his  brother.  By  the 
use  of  brandy  and  vinegar,  he  soon  began  to 
shew  signs  of  life  :  but  then  he  seemed  crazy, 
and  this  distressed  his  brother  even  more  than 
his  death.  The  captain  agreed  to  cure  him  of 
this  also.  He  knew  that  his  delirium  was  caused 
only  by  the  liquor  he  had  swallowed :  and  di- 
recting that  he  should  not  be  disturbed,  a  sound 
sleep  soon  brought  him  to  his  senses.  After 
this.  Smith  gave  presents  to  each  of  them,  and 
they  returned  homeward,  telhng  everywhere,  by 
the  way,  that  "  Captain  Smith  could  bring  the 
dead  to  life,"  and  his  fame  rang  the  louder 
throughout  all  that  region. 

About  the  same  time,  another  Indian  at  Wero- 
wocomoco  had  managed  to  get  a  large  bag  of 
gunpowder,  and  the  back-piece  of  a  suit  of  ar- 
mor. He  had  sometimes  seen  the  soldiers  at 
Jamestown  drying  their  powder  over  the  fire, 
and  he  now  undertook  to  do  the  same  thing  by 


JOHN    SMITH.  161 

spreading  it  out  upon  this  piece  of  armor.  His 
companions  stood  anxiously  peeping  over  him  to 
see  his  skill,  when  suddenly  the  powder  explod- 
e<l,  killed  three  upon  the  spot,  and  inju  ed 
several  others.  The  Indians  learned  now  more 
than  ever  to  fear  "  the  white  men's  gunpow- 
der." "  These,  with  some  other  accidents,  so 
frightened  and  amazed  Powhatan  and  his  people, 
that  they  flocked  from  all  parts,  and  with  pre- 
sents desired  peace — returning  many  stolen 
things,  which  had  never  been  demanded  or 
thought  of  by  the  English.  And  ever  after, 
during  the  remainder  of  Captain  Smith's  admin- 
istration, both  Powhatan  and  his  people  would 
send  back  to  Jamestown  such  as  had  been  taken 
stealing,  to  receive  their  punishment;  and  the 
whole  country  became  as  absolutely  free  and 
safe  to  the  English  as  to  themselves."* 

Now  the  colonists  pursued  their  business  with 
industry  and  success.  They  made  quantities  of 
tar,  pitch,  and  potash,  succeeded  in  making  a 
fair  sample  of  glass,  dug  a  well  of  excellent 
water  in  the  fort,  which,  till  then,  was  wanting, 
built  about  twenty  houses,  put  a  new  roof  on 
the  church,  provided  nets  and  weirs  for  fishing, 

•  Stith's  History  of  Virginia,  page  97. 

14* 


162  JOHN    SMITH. 

and  to  stop  the  disorders  of  the  thieves  and  In- 
dians, erected  a  block  house  on  the  "  neck  of  the 
island."  Here  the  trade  of  the  Indians  was  to 
be  received,  and  soldiers  were  stationed,  so  that 
no  man  (either  Indian  or  colonist)  should  pass 
and  repass  without  an  order  from  the  president. 
"  Thirty  or  forty  acres  of  ground  were  broken  up 
and  planted."  Another  block  house  was  built 
upon  Hog  Island,  and  a  garrison  stationed  there 
to  give  prompt  notice  of  the  arrival  of  any  ships. 
For  their  exercise,  at  leisure  times, "  they  made 
clapboard  and  wainscot."  In  the  midst  of  all 
this  industry  and  good  order,  Captain  Wynne 
died.  He  was  the  only  remaining  member  of 
the  council,  and  now  the  whole  government  de- 
volved upon  Captain  Smith. 

This  happy  state  of  things  was  soon  interrupt- 
ed again  by  a  general  fear  of  starvation.  Upon 
an  examination  of  their  supplies,  they  found  half 
their  corn  rotten,  and  the  rest  badly  damaged 
by  the  rats.  All  ordinary  work  was  stopped, 
and  the  people  employed  themselves  diligent- 
ly to  procure  provisions.  The  Indians  were 
very  kind,  bringing  in  from  day  to  day,  squir- 
rels, turkeys,  and  deer,  and  Powhatan  even  di- 
vided his  stock  of  corn  with  them.  Notwith- 
standing this  friendship.  Smith  found  it  necessary 


JOHN   SMITH.  163 

to  send  sixty  of  his  men  down  the  river  to  hve 
upon  oysters.  Twenty  were  sent  to  the  falls 
with  Mr.  West,  and  as  many  more  to  Point 
Comfort  with  Lieutenant  Percy,  that  they  might 
catch  fish.  Many  were  billeted  among  the  In- 
dians, who  proved  in  every  w^ay  friendly.  Quan- 
tities of  sturgeon  w^ere  taken,  which  "  being  dried 
and  pounded,  and  then  mingled  with  sorrel  and 
wholesome  herbs,"  made  good  food.  Some 
gTithered  (we  are  told)  as  much  Tuckahoe  root 
in  a  day  as  would  make  them  bread  for  a  week. 
Notwithstanding  their  pinching  wants,  some 
of  the  men  (about  150)  were  worthless  vaga- 
bonds, unwilling  to  make  any  effort  w^hatever 
These  fellows  tormented  Smith  continually,  beg- 
ging him  that  he  would  sell  their  tools,  iron, 
swords,  guns,  and  even  their  houses  and  ordnance 
to  the  savages,  for  such  food  as  they  would  give. 
They  went  farther  than  this — even  demanding 
clamorously  that  he  w^ould  desert  the  country. 
This  w^as  more  than  the  captain  could  endure. 
Seizing  one  of  the  w^orst  of  these  lazy  grumblers, 
he  caused  him  to  be  severely  punished,  and  then 
spoke  to  the  rest  as  follows :  "  Fellow  soldiers, 
I  little  thought  any  so  false  as  to  report,  or  so 
many  so  simple  as  to  be  persuaded,  that  I  either 
intend  to  starve  you,  or  that  Powhatan  at  this 


l64  JOHN   SMITH. 

time  hath  corn  for  himself,  much  less  for  you,  or 
that  I  would  not  have  it  if  I  knew  where  it  were 
to  be  had.  Neither  did  I  think  any  so  malicious 
as  I  now  see  many  are ;  yet  it  shall  not  provoke 
me  even  from  doing  my  best  for  the  very  worst 
among  you.  But  dream  no  longer  of  any  help 
from  Powhatan  :  nor  that  I  will  any  longer  for- 
bear to  force  the  idle  to  work,  and  punish  them 
if  they  complain.  If  I  find  any  one  of  you  try- 
ing to  escape  to  Newfoundland  in  the  pinnace,  I 
wdll  certainly  hang  him  at  the  gallows.  You 
cannot  deny  but  that  many  a  time  I  have  saved 
your  lives  at  the  hazard  of  my  o^^•n ;  when  (if 
your  counsels  had  prevailed)  you  would  all  have 
starved.  I  protest  by  the  God  that  made  me, 
that  since  necessity  will  not  force  you  to  gather 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  for  yourselves — you  shall 
not  only  gather  for  yourselves,  but  for  those  alsc 
that  are  sick.  You  know  I  have  fared  with  the 
worst  of  you,  and  that  my  extra  allowance  has 
always  been  divided  amongst  the  sick.  The  sick 
shall  not  starve,  but  share  all  our  labors.  He 
that  does  not  gather  every  day  as  much  as  I  do, 
the  next  day  shall  be  put  over  the  river,  and  be 
banished  from  the  fort  as  a  drone,  until  he  shall 
mend  his  ways  or  starve."  This  speech  caused 
at  first  a  great  clamor  and  outcry.     Every  one, 


JOHN    SMITH.  165 

however,  knew  that  Smith  would  do  as  he 
threatened,  and  no  man  was  bold  enough  open- 
ly to  disobey  him.  Most  of  them  now  set  dili- 
gently to  work  to  help  themselves.  Some  few, 
still  anxious  to  do  nothing,  and  hearing  that 
those  who  had  been  billeted  among  the  Indians 
had  been  kindly  treated,  stole  away  from  James- 
town to  make  their  homes  with  the  savages. 
But  the  Indians  were  so  friendly  to  Smith,  that 
they  at  once  caught  them  and  brought  them 
back,  where  the  poor  WTetches  were  properly 
punished  for  playing  runaways. 

You  w^ill  remember  that  Sicklemore  had  been 
sent  off  to  look  for  silk  grass,  and  to  find  some 
one  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  lost  colony.  He 
now  returned  unsuccessful.  As  the  council  in 
England,  however,  were  particularly  anxious 
about  this  lost  colony,  Smith  again  sent  two  of 
his  men  (Nathaniel  Powel  and  Anas  Todkill)  to 
inquire  about  them  of  the  Mangoags,  a  tribe  of 
Indians  dwelling  upon  some  of  the  upper  branches 
of  the  Roanoake  River  in  Carolina.  Furnished 
with  suitable  guides,  they  departed,  but  ere  long 
came  back  to  Jamestown  equally  unsuccessful. 

The  treacherous  Germans  beginning  again  to 
make  trouble.  Smith  sent  one  of  the  Zionists  (a 
Swiss  named  Volday)  to  try  to  persuade  them  to 


166  JOIL\    SMI'IH. 

come  home.  But  this  fellow,  while  pretending 
to  hate  the  villany  of  these  deserters,  was  in 
fact  as  great  a  traitor  as  any  one  of  them.  He 
had  scarcely  reached  them  when  he  becran  to 
conspire  with  them  to  destroy  the  colony.  Know- 
ing the  distress  at  Jamestown  ;  that  the  colonists 
were  mostly  wandering  about  in  search  of  food, 
and  the  fort  consequently  but  slightly  guarded, 
he  went  to  Powhatan  and  offered,  if  he  would 
lend  him  forces,  not  only  to  burn  the  town 
and  seize  the  bark,  but  to  make  most  of  the 
colonists  his  slaves.  This  plot  was  made  known 
to  certain  discontented  fellows  at  the  fort,  in  the 
hope  of  receiving  their  aid ;  but  two  of  them 
Avere  so  smitten  with  horror  at  the  thought  of  it, 
that  they  instantly  revealed  it  to  Smith.  Such 
was  the  rage  and  indignation  now  towards  these 
conspirators,  that  several  volunteered  to  go  to 
"Werowocomoco  immediately  'and  kill  them  in 
the  very  presence  of  the  king.  Two  of  them 
(Mr.  Wiffin  and  Jeffery  Abbot)  were  at  length 
despatched  expressly  for  the  purpose.  But  the 
Germans,  upon  their  arrival,  deceived  Abbot  with 
a  fair  story,  and  Wiffin  was  not  willing  to  at- 
tempt the  business  alone ;  so  the  villains  escaped. 
Powhatan'^acted  very  properly  in  this  matter. 
As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  business  upon  which 


JOHN   SMITH.  167 

Wiffin  and  Abbot  had  come,  he  sent  word  to 
Smith  that  he  would  neither  protect  the  Ger- 
mans, nor  prevent  his  men  from  executing  his 
design  upon  them,  for  he  would  entertain  no 
man  who  was  his  enemy.  One  of  these  Germans 
afterwards  returned  to  Jamestown  on  a  promise 
of  pardon.  The  others  who  remained  at  Wero- 
wocomoco  could  make  no  farther  mischief,  so  far 
as  Smith  was  concerned,  for  he  was  rever- 
enced by  Powhatan  and  the  surrounding  tribes 
to  such  an  extent,  that  they  instantly  informed 
him  of  any  intended  plot. 

Heavier  troubles,  however,  were  soon  to  fall 
upon  Smith,  and  all  the  colony.  Captain  Samuel 
Argall  now  arrived  from  England,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  trading  with  the  colony  and  fishing  for  stur- 
geon. His  ship  was  well  laden  with  wine  and  pro- 
visions. "  This  was  a  prohibited  trade,  but  Argall 
being  a  kinsman  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  the  trea- 
surer, it  was  overlooked.  The  necessities  of  the 
colony  obliged  them  to  take  his  provisions,  by 
which  his  voyage  was  lost ;  but  they  revictual- 
led  him  when  their  next  supply  arrived,  and 
sent  him  to  England  with  a  full  account  of  the 
state  of  their  affairs.  By  this  ship  they  received 
letters,  which  taxed  the  president  for  his  hard 
usage  of  the  natives,  and  for  not  returning  the 


168  JOHN    SMITH. 

ships  freighted.  And  now  also  they  first  had  an 
account  of  the  alterations  in  England,  and  of  the 
great  preparations  and  large  supply  to  be  sent 
by  the  Lord  Delaware,  appointed  Captain  Gen- 
eral and  Governor  in  chief  of  Virginia."* 

*  Stith's  Virginia,  page  100. 


CHAPTER  Vm. 

JVew  charter  granted  by  the  king  to  the  Virginia 
Company — Smith  is  deposed^  and  Lord  Dela- 
ware made  governor  of  Virginia — Seven  ships 
arrive  at  Jamestown — Confusion  in  the  colony 
— 'Courage  and  services  of  Smith — Frieridship 
of  the  Indians  toward  him — Is  seriously  in- 
jured by  an  accident — Conspiracy  to  murder 
fiiffi — Friendship  of  his  old  soldiers — Returns 
to  England — State  of  the  colony  at  his  depar- 
ture— His  loss  is  felt  severely  in  the  colony. 

It  seems  strange  that  after  all  the  struggles 
of  Smith,  the  council  in  England  should  have 
been  dissatisfied  with  him.  Their  conduct,  how- 
ever, is  explained  when  you  remember  that  they 
were  continually  looking  for  returns  of  gold  and 
silver  from  Virginia,  and  were  continually  dis- 
appointed. Newport's  last  arrival  from  the  colo- 
ny had  disappointed  them  more  than  ever ; 
Smith's  letter  had  provoked  them,  and  Newport, 
acting  a  miserable  part,  had  wilfully  misrepre- 
sented the  condition  of  the  colony.  He  seems 
15 


170  JOHN   SMITH. 

to  have  been  a  weak  but  ambitious  man,  willing 
to  elevate  himself  in  any  way,  however  mean. 
The  council,  therefore,  asked  the  kinor  for  a  new 
charter  for  the  colony,  which  was  readily  grant- 
ed. This  charter  is  dated  the  23d  of  May,  1609. 
By  it.  Lord  Delaware  was  made  Captain  General 
of  Virginia ;  Sir  Thomas  Gates  his  Lieutenant 
General ;  Sir  George  Somers,  Admiral ;  Captain 
Newport,  Vice  Admiral ;  Sir  Thomas  Dale, 
High  Marshal,  and  Sir  Ferdinando  Wainman, 
General  of  the  Horse.  The  powers  of  the  old 
President  and  Council  in  Virginia  were  set  aside, 
and  the  colonists  were  commanded  at  once  to 
render  obedience  to  these  new  officers. 

The  council  at  once  commenced  making  pre- 
parations for  an  enterprise  toward  the  new  world, 
and  in  a  little  time  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  Sir  George 
Somers,  and  Captain  Newport,  were  ready  with 
nine  ships  and  five  hundred  people.  It  was 
agreed  in  the  council  that  whichever  of  these 
three  officers  should  reach  Virginia  fiist,  he  was 
to  govern  the  colony,  until  the  arrival  of  Lord 
Delaware.  Jealous  of  the  possible  authority  of 
each  other,  to  settle  this  matter,  they  agreed  to 
embark  in  the  same  ship.  On  the  last  of  May, 
thf^  whole  fleet  sailed  from  England.  On  the 
25l1i  of  July  they  were  visited  by  a  hurricane, 


JOHN    SMITH.  171 

which  separated  the  ship,  bearing  the  officers 
from  the  fleet,  and  drove  her  ahnost  a  wreck 
among  the  Bermuda  Islands.  Unfortunately, 
there  were  on  board  this  vessel,  besides  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  of  the  emigrants,  "  all  the  bills  of 
lading,  all  the  instructions  and  directions,  and 
the  best  part  of  their  provisions."  Another 
smaller  ship  was  wrecked  in  the  same  tempest, 
while  the  other  seven,  riding  out  the  storm,  ar- 
rived safely  at  Jamestown. 

The  guard  on  duty  at  the  block  house,  mark- 
ing their  approach,  gave  notice,  and  immediately 
the  whole  colony  w^as  under  arms.  Smith,  sup- 
posing that  it  was  a  fleet  of  Spaniards  coming 
to  invade  them,  called  the  men  to  their  duty,  and 
the  Indians,  in  their  love  for  him,  volunteered  to 
assist  in  fighting  the  expected  battle.  Their 
fears,  however,  w^ere  soon  over,  when  they  dis- 
covered that  the  fleet  w^as  manned  by  their  coun- 
trymen. 

A  battle  with  Spaniards,  however,  w^as  pre- 
ferable to  what  soon  occurred.  In  the  ships 
that  arrived  were  three  w'orthless  men,  well 
known  in  the  colony.  These  were  Ratcliflfe, 
Archer,  and  Martin.  Hating  Smith  as  they  did, 
they  had  busied  themselves  during  the  whole 
voyage,  in  telling  falsehoods,  and  endeavoring 


172  JOHN   SMITH 

to  make  enemies  for  him.  They  had,  in  a  good 
degree,  succeeded :  and  now  the  new  comers 
\vere  scarcely  ashore,  before  their  temper  and 
bearing  toward  him  began  to  be  seen.  No  new 
commission  had  as  yet  arrived  to  set  aside  his 
authority,  yet  they  refused  to  obey  him,  and  pre- 
tended first  to  set  up  one  governor  and  then  an- 
other, until  the  whole  colony  was  one  scene  of 
confusion.  The  old  settlers,  who  knew  their 
captain's  worth,  stood  by  him  firmly,  but  he, 
disgusted  with  the  madness  of  these  new  comers, 
allowed  them  for  a  time  to  have  their  own  way 
and  do  as  they  pleased. 

The  German  too,  who  had  returned  under 
promise  of  pardon,  proved  traitor  again.  Seeing 
the  distraction  of  the  colony,  and  hearing  the 
loud  talk  of  the  new  adventurers,  he  again  went 
over  to  Powhatan,  promising  to  do  "  wonders  for 
him  upon  the  arrival  of  Lord  Delaware."  The 
Germans  still  at  Werowocomoco  joined  the  fel- 
low in  his  promises,  but  Powhatan  understood 
too  well  the  value  of  such  friends.  Knowing 
that  treason  is  base,  and  that  the  men  who  would 
betray  Smith,  might  one  day  be  as  ready  to  be- 
tray him,  he  ordered  his  men  to  seize  them  and 
beat  out  their  brains.  Void  ay  was  the  only 
traitor  of  the  old  gang  left,  and  that  you  may 


JOHN   SMITH.  173 

see  the  full  reward  of  iniquity,  I  may  as  well  tell 
you  at  once,  that  he  managed  to  escape  to  Eng- 
land before  this,  made  great  promises  of  what 
he  would  do  for  the  council,  and  was  sent  back 
with  Lord  Delaware  to  carry  out  his  fine  pur- 
poses. In  a  little  time  he  was  found  to  be  a 
mere  impostor,  and  died  in  misery  and  disgrace. 
Wearied  and  disgusted  with  the  confusion  at 
Jamestown,  Smith  began  now  to  think  of  return- 
ing to  England.  But  the  madness  of  the  new 
comers  had  reached  such  a  pitch,  that  the  sober 
men  among  them  saw  that  their  only  safety 
was  to  be  found  in  securing  his  protection.  They 
therefore  w^ent  to  him,  begging  that  he  would 
remember  that  no  new  governor  had  arrived,  that 
his  commission  had  not  yet  expired,  and  entreat- 
ing him  to  abandon  the  thought  of  leaving  them, 
and  to  restore  order  in  the  colony.  Ever  rea- 
dy to  sacrifice  his  own  feelings  for  the  pub- 
lic good,  Smith  consented  to  remain,  and  set 
himself  courageously  to  the  task  of  reforming 
abuses,  even  at  the  point  of  his  life.  He  seized 
RatclifFe,  Archer,  and  other  leaders  of  the  riot, 
and  cast  them  into  prison,  until  a  leisure  time 
should  come  for  their  fair  trial.  Thoroughly  to 
break  up  the  plots  of  the  conspirators,  he  thought 
it  best  to  divide  them.  Martin  was  sent  with 
15* 


174  JOHN   SMITH. 

one  hundred  and  twenty  men  to  make  a  set- 
tlement at  Nansamond,  while  Mr.  West  was 
despatched  with  the  same  number  to  make  a 
settlement  at  the  falls.  Each  was  supplied  with 
a  good  stock  of  provisions.  Before  Martin  left. 
Smith,  by  one  act,  gained  still  greater  popularity. 
He  offered  to  resign  in  his  favor,  and  allow  him 
to  act  as  governor.  But  Martin,  though  a  weak 
man,  knew  he  was  not  fit  for  the  place,  and  de- 
clined it — preferring  to  take  his  men  to  Nansa- 
mond. 

His  settlement  at  Nansamond,  however,  proved 
a  perfect  failure.  The  Indians  w^ere  very  kind, 
but  such  was  "  his  jealousy  of  them,  that  he  sur- 
prised the  poor  naked  king,  and  his  monuments 
and  his  houses,  with  the  island  wherein  he  lived, 
and  there  fortified  himself."  This  outrag^ed  the 
savages.  Gathering  in  numbers,  they  attacked 
him,  killed  several  of  his  men,  released  theii 
king,  and  carried  off  a  thousand  bushels  of  corn. 
He  was  so  frightened  that  he  made  but  little 
effort  to  oppose  them ;  but  sent  off  to  James- 
town for  thirty  soldiers.  These  were  immedi- 
ately sent,  but  seeing  Martin's  cowardice,  came 
back,  refusing  to  serve  under  such  a  leader.  He 
soon  followed  them,  leaving  his  poor  company 
to  shift  for  themselves. 


JOHN   SMITH.  175 

West  was  equally  imprudent  at  the  falls,  and 
his  settlement  did  not  fare  much  better.  It  was 
made  upon  a  point  of  land  which  was  frequently 
inundated  by  the  river.  Smith,  feeling  much 
anxiety  about  this  settlement,  had  taken  a  leisure 
moment  to  visit  it.  On  his  way  he  met  Mr.  West 
returning:  to  Jamestown  to  seek  his  advice. 
Learning  the  state  of  things,  he  at  once  pur- 
chased of  Powhatan  the  place  on  the  river 
called  by  his  name,  and  w^ent  up  to  remove  the 
settlement  there.  The  men  at  the  falls  proving 
insolent  and  resisting  his  authority,  he  (with  the 
five  men  who  were  with  him)  seized  some  of  the 
ringleaders  and  cast  them  into  prison.  But  the 
riot  only  increased — their  numbers  proved  too 
strong  for  him,  and  he  was  glad  to  escape  in  a 
boat  with  his  life.  The  Indians  now  came  to 
him  complaining  that  these  men  at  the  falls 
"  were  w^orse  than  the  Monacans  themselves" — 
that  they  stole  their  corn,  robbed  their  gardens, 
beat  them,  and  put  them  in  prison ;  but  that 
they  w^ould  endure  these  things  no  longer.  They 
had  borne  with  them  "  out  of  love  for  him,  but 
hereafter  they  desired  pardon  if  they  defended 
themselves."  As  he  himself  had  been  injured 
by  these  men,  they  offered  at  once  to  fight  for 
him  if  he  would  lead  them  on.     After  spending 


176  JOHN   SMITH. 

nine  clays  in  the  neighborhood,  hoping  in  vain 
that  these  rioters  would  come  to  their  senses,  he 
started  for  Jamestown.  His  barge  had  moved 
off  only  about  half  a  league,  when  she  grounded. 
This  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  the  men 
at  the  falls,  for  Smith  had  scarcely  left  them, 
when  twelve  Indians,  finding  some  of  them  strag- 
gling in  the  woods,  murdered  them,  and  then 
violently  assaulted  the  settlement.  The  fright- 
ened men  (too  cowardly  to  protect  themselves) 
now  sent  for  Smith,  offering  to  do  as  he  desired 
if  he  would  come  back.  He  immediately  return- 
ed, and  after  punishing  six  or  seven  as  examples 
to  their  companions,  removed  them  all  to  Poav- 
hatan.  There  w^as  no  reason  in  their  not  going 
there  before.  Here  they  had  dry  houses  and 
lodgings,  near  tw^o  hundred  acres  of  land  cleared 
and  ready  for  planting,  besides  a  fort  which  had 
formerly  been  erected  by  the  savages.  The 
place,  too,  was  strong  by  nature,  having  been 
once  selected  as  his  home  by  the  skilful  eye  of 
Powhatan,  and  now  they  were  so  much  pleased 
wnth  it,  that  they  gave  it  the  name  of  Nonesuch 
Yet,  before  Smith  had  fairly  settled  them. 
West,  who  w^as  dissatisfied  with  this  movement, 
began  to  make  discord  among  them,  and  some 
of  them  were  soon  again  discontented.  They  be* 


JOHN    SMITH.  177 

gan  to  complain,  and  as  Smith  had  no  disposition 
to  quarrel  with  West,  and  no  means  of  stopping 
their  insolence,  he  at  once  started  for  Jamestown, 
leaving  them  to  do  as  they  pleased.  In  a  little 
time,  under  the  persuasions  of  West,  they  de- 
serted this  place  with  all  its  advantages  and  went 
back  to  the  falls. 

Passing  down  the  river.  Smith  met  with  a  very 
serious  accident.  Being  asleep  in  the  boat,  a 
bag  of  powder  exploded  near  him,  tearing  his 
flesh  and  burning  him  dreadfully.  To  quench 
the  fire  (his  clothes  were  all  in  a  blaze)  he  leap- 
ed into  the  water,  and  with  great  difficulty  was 
rescued  by  his  men  from  drowning.  In  "  this 
piteous  state"  he  arrived  at  Jamestown.  RatcliiFe 
and  Archer  with  the  other  prisoners  w^ere  soon 
now  to  be  brought  to  trial.  Dreading  the  result, 
(for  they  knew  their  guilt,)  they  basely  conspired 
to  take  advantage  of  his  condition,  and  murder 
him  in  his  bed.  But  the  wretch  who  was  en- 
gaged to  despatch  him,  was  not  equal  to  this 
deed  of  cruelty.  His  heart  failed  him,  even  with 
the  pistol  in  his  hand.  Disappointed  in  this, 
these  villains  then  endeavored  to  usurp  the  go- 
vernment, thereby  to  escape  their  punishment. 
The  old  soldiers  of  the  captain  w^ere  now  enrag- 
ed almost  to  desperation.    Flocking  around  him, 


178  JOHN   SMITH. 

they  declared  that  if  he  would  only  say  the  word, 
they  would  fetch  him  the  heads  of  the  boldest 
villains  thus  trying  to  injure  him.  But  he,  de- 
sirous of  having  no  farther  disturbance  in  the 
colony,  persuaded  them  to  be  quiet.  Suffering 
from  his  wounds,  and  sick  at  heart,  he  resolv- 
ed to  return  to  England.  His  old  friends 
crowded  around  him,  entreating  him  to  stay,  even 
w'ith  tears  in  their  eyes ;  but  he  could  not  be 
persuaded.  He  fancied  that  he  should  never  re- 
cover except  in  England,  and  he  mourned  "  to 
see  his  authority  suppressed,  he  knew  not  why  ; 
himself  and  his  soldiers  to  be  rewarded  for  their 
past  labors  and  dangers,  he  knew  not  how;  and 
a  new  commission  granted  to,  he  knew  not 
whom."  Moreover,  he  thought  himself  useless 
in  his  present  condition,  and  this  was  reason 
enough  with  him  for  his  departure.  It  was  ear- 
ly in  the  autumn  of  1609,  that  he  was  carried 
aboard  ship,  and  departed  from  Virginia  never 
again  to  see  it. 

In  spite  of  all  difficulties,  the  colony  was  in  a 
tolerably  prosperous  condition.  He  left  behind 
him  near  five  hundred  colonists,  one  hundred  of 
whom  were  well  trained  soldiers  of  his  own, 
three  ships,  seven  boats,  twenty-four  pieces  of 
ordnance,   three  hundred  muskets,  with   other 


JOHN   SMITH.  179 

arras  and  ammunition  for  the  men,  nets  for  fish-  ^ 
ing,  tools  for  working,  a  good  supply  of  clothing, 
large  stores  of  provisions,  and  an  abundant  stock 
of  domestic  animals. 

It  may  serve  to  shew  the  littleness  of  some 
enemies  left  behind,  when  we  are  told  that,  "  at 
one  time  the  ships  were  delayed  from  sailing 
for  three  weeks,  that  complaints  might  be  looked 
up  against  him  and  sent  to  England ;"  and  the 
real  excellence  of  his  character  is  well  seen, 
when  it  is  known  how,  in  less  than  six  months 
after  his  departure,  friends  and  enemies  sighed 
for  his  presence  in  Virginia.  When  the  famine, 
known  as  "  the  starving  time,"  swept  over  the 
colony,  and  after  eating  roots,  the  skins  of  their 
horses,  and  at  last  the  dead  bodies  of  their  com- 
panions, the  five  hundred  left  by  the  captain  w^as 
reduced  to  the  little  band  of  sixty,  men,  women, 
and  children ;  at  that  time  they  knew  how  to 
value  him.  It  was  then  that  they  sighed  for 
their  old  leader  and  fellow-sufferer  in  every  diffi- 
culty. Captain  Smith. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Smith  s  first  voyage  to  J^ew  England  in  1614 — 
Treachery  of  Captain  Hunt — Smith  makes  a 
m.ap  of  the  coast,  and  upon  his  return  presents 
it  to  Prince  Charles — Sails  a  second  time  for 
JSTew  England — Is  taken  by  French  pirates 
and  carried  a  prisoner  to  Rochelle — Makes  his 
escape  during  a  storm — jSt  length  arrives  in 
his  0W71  country — Publishes  his  description  of 
JSTew  England — Goes  through  the  western  part 
of  England  distributing  copies  of  his  book — 
Circumstances  which  brought  the  Princess 
Pocahontas  to  England  in  1616 — She  meets 
with  Smith — Touching  interview — Embassy  of 
Vttamaiomakkin — Pocahontas  dies  in  Eng- 
land,  leaving  an  infant  son — Kews  of  Ope- 
chancanougW s  massacre  at  Jamestown  in  1622 
— Smith  proposes  to  revenge  the  death  of  his 
countrymen — In  1623,  appears  before  King 
Jameses  commission  for  reforming  abuses  in 
Virginia — In  1631,  dies  at  London,  in  the 
fifty-second  year  of  his  age. 

Five  years  now  pass  away  before  we  hear 
again  of  Captain  Smith  and  of  course  I  can  tell 


JOHN   SMITH.  181 

you  nothing  of  his  employments  during  that  time. 
At  length,  in  the  year  1614,  we  find  him  busy 
in  London,  making  arrangements  with  some 
merchants  there  for  an  expedition  to  New  Eng- 
land. Attempts  had  before  this  been  made  to 
plant  colonies  in  that  region,  but  they  had  failed, 
and  greatly  discouraged  the  people  of  England ; 
but  Smith's  energy  now  roused  these  merchants 
to  a  new  adventure.  Two  ships  were  made 
ready,  and  to  save  the  expenses  of  the  voyage, 
he  was  to  employ  himself  and  crew  in  searching 
for  mines  and  capturing  whales.  If  he  failed 
in  these  two  purposes,  he  w^as  to  bring  home  a 
cargo  of  such  fish  and  furs  as  he  could  procure. 
In  tlie  month  of  March  the  ships  departed — 
one  commanded  by  Smith,  the  other  by  Captain 
Thomas  Hunt.  They  arrived,  on  the  last  day  of 
April,  at  the  Island  of  Monahigon,  off  the  coast 
of  Maine.  Here,  after  building  seven  boats, 
some  went  inland  to  look  for  the  mines,  while 
others  set  to  work  to  capture  the  whales.  They 
were  busy  in  these  efforts  without  success  for  two 
months,when  Smith,  thinking  it  was  idle  to  waste 
any  farther  time,  set  them  to  taking  and  curing 
cod  fish,  of  which  there  was  an  abundance  on  the 
coast.  While  they  were  thus  employed,  taking 
with  him  eight  men  in  a  small  boat,  he  ranged 
16 


182  JOHN   SMITH. 

the  coast  from  Penobscot  to  Cape  Cod,  gathering 
furs  from  the  Indians.  During  this  time,  as  usual, 
he  observed  everything  closely,  gave  names  to 
many  of  the  places  that  he  passed,  and  made  a 
map  of  the  whole  coast.  The  month  of  August 
having  now  arrived,  and  his  ship  being  laden, 
he  sailed  for  England,  leaving  Hunt  behind  him, 
(whose  ship  was  not  yet  laden,)  with  directions 
to  complete  his  cargo  of  fish  as  rapidly  as  he 
could,  and  sail  for  Spain,  where  he  would  find  a 
good  market. 

This  Hunt  proved  to  be  an  unprincipled  man. 
Smith  had  scarcely  left,  when  he  managed  to 
get  twenty-four  Indians  on  board  his  ship, 
seized  them,  and  sailing  directly  to  Malaga 
in  Spain,  sold  them  as  slaves.  It  is  said 
that  this  act  of  wickedness  w^as  prompted  by 
the  desire  to  make  the  savages  on  the  coast, 
enemies  to  his  countrymen ;  hoping  thereby  to 
prevent  the  planting  of  a  colony,  that  his  own 
private  gains  might  be  the  greater.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  certain  it  is  that  he  succeeded  in  making 
them  enemies;  for  long  after  this,  the  w^hites 
were  made  to  suflfer  for  his  iniquity. 

Upon  his  return  to  England,  Smith  put  in  at 
the  port  of  Plymouth.  Here  he  commenced 
telhng  of  his  adventures,  and  meeting  with  Sir 


JOHN   SMITH.  183 

Ferdinando  Gorges,  was  at  once  introduced  by 
him  to  the  Plymouth  Company  of  Adventurers. 
This  was  the  company  making  efforts  (as  you 
will  remember)  to  settle  New  England  or  North 
Virginia,  as  it  was  then  called,  and  they  imme- 
diately engaged  his  services.  Passing  over  to 
London  now,  he  found  the  London  Company 
(which  he  had  formerly  served)  anxious  to  em- 
ploy him,  but  could  not  meet  their  wishes,  ow- 
ing to  his  engagement  at  Plymouth.  Their 
wish,  however,  serves  to  shew  how  much  the 
man  was  valued,  after  all  the  complaints  and 
murmurs  that  had  been  made  against  him. 

While  in  London,  he  presented  to  Prince 
Charles  (afterwards  King  Charles  the  First)  his 
map  of  the  new  region — with  a  request  (as  some 
say)  that  he  would  give  a  name  to  the  country 
— and  the  king  called  it  New  England.  Others 
assert  that  Smith  gave  it  this  name  himself.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  the  prince  altered  various 
names  upon  the  map.  Cape  Tragabigzanda  (call- 
ed by  Smith  after  his  Turkish  mistress)  was  chang- 
ed to  Cape  Ann,  and  the  islands  near  the  cape, 
which  Smhh  called  the"  Turks'  Heads," in  honor 
of  his  victory  over  the  three  Turks,  lost  also 
their  name.  Cape  Cod  was  called  by  the  prince 
Cape  James,  in  honor  of  his  father,  though  we 


1S4  JOHN  SMITH. 

still  retain  the  first  name — and  thus  the  cod-fish 
on  the  coast  have  succeeded  better  than  a  prince 
in  giving  a  name  to  that  point.  What  are  now 
known,  too,  as  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  were  upon 
Smith's  map  marked  as  "  Smith's  Isles."  I  do  not 
know,  however,  that  we  are  indebted  to  the 
prince  for  this  last  change. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  January,  1615,  when 
Smith  left  London  to  keep  his  engagement  W'ith 
the  Plymouth  Company.  They  had  promised 
to  provide  him  with  four  ships  for  an  adventure ; 
but  upon  his  arrival,  he  was  greatly  disappointed 
to  find  they  were  not  ready.  The  truth  is,  the 
company  was  again  discouraged.  In  June  (it 
seems)  a  ship  had  sailed  for  New  England,  and 
owing  to  the  wickedness  of  Hunt,  had  met  with 
a  very  unkind  reception  upon  the  coast,  from 
the  savages.  She  had  now^  returned,  and  the 
crew  of  course  had  &dd  stories  to  tell  of  their 
trials.  Smith  was  determined  that  his  enter- 
prise should  not  fail.  By  the  help  of  Sir  Fer- 
dinando  Gorges  and  other  friends,  after  an  en- 
ergetic and  untiring  struggle,  he  managed  to 
have  two  ships  equipped  and  ready  for  his 
voyage.  The  one  (of  one  hundred  tons)  was  to 
be  commanded  by  himself:  the  other  (of  fifty 
tons)  was  to  be  commanded  by  Captain  Thomas 


JOHN   SMITH.  185 

Dermer.  Sixteen  emigrants  were  to  embark  foi 
the  purpose  of  making  a  permanent  settlement. 

In  the  month  of  March  they  set  sail.  The 
ships  kept  together  for  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  leagues,  when  a  storm  separated  them. 
Dermer  pursued  his  voyage,  but  Smith,  after 
losing  both  his  masts,  was  forced  to  put  back 
under  a  jury-mast  to  Plymouth.  He  was  de- 
tained some  little  time  in  making  new  arrange- 
ments. Having  at  length  put  his  stores  on  board 
a  small  bark  of  sixty  tons,  manned  by  thirty  men, 
he  again  set  sail. 

His  voyage  now  was  only  a  voyage  of  mis- 
fortunes. In  a  little  time  he  fell  in  with  an 
English  pirate.  His  frightened  crew  begged 
that  he  would  surrender ;  but  this  he  refused  to 
do,  though  he  carried  but  four  guns,  and  the 
pirate  thirty-six.  There  was  no  fight,  however, 
for  upon  hailing  her.  Smith  found  that  the  cap- 
tain and  some  of  the  crew  were  his  old  friends 
and  comrades;  that  they  had  run  away  with  the 
ship  from  Tunis,  and  were  now  in  great  want  of 
provisions.  In  their  distress  they  begged  to  put 
themselves  under  his  command,  but  this  Smith 
refused,  and  kept  on  his  voyage.  Ere  long,  he 
came  in  sight  of  two  French  pirates.  His  cow- 
ardly crew  again  begged  that  he  would  at  once 
16* 


186  JOHN  SMITH. 

surrender.  Smith  was  now  angry.  He  threat- 
ened to  blow  up  the  ship  sooner  than  do  this. 
The  pirates  chased  him,  but  keeping  up  a  brisk 
running  fight,  he  made  his  escape.  Soon  after 
he  met  four  French  men-of-war,  that  were  out 
upon  a  cruise,  having  orders  from  the  French 
king  to  seize  any  pirates  they  might  find.  Smith 
went  aboard  one  of  the  ships  and  shewed  his 
commission,  to  prove  that  he  was  no  pirate.  But 
the  French  commander  was  unwilfing  to  believe 
him.  The  truth  was,  that  the  French  had  set- 
tlements in  North  America,  and  were  jealous  of 
all  efforts  of  the  English  toward  the  same  pur- 
pose. Smith's  ship  w^as  therefore  plundered, 
manned  with  Frenchmen,  and  his  crew  taken 
aboard  the  French  ships.  Strangely  enough, 
however,  in  a  little  time  they  delivered  his  vessel 
to  him,  and  he  prepared  to  continue  his  voyage 
for  New  England,  amid  the  loud  murmurs  of  his 
men,  who  now  begged  that  they  might  return  to 
Plymouth.  The  poor  cowards  had  been  so  often 
frightened,  that  they  were  unwilling  to  be  longer 
at  sea.  Smith  refused  to  hearken  to  their  com- 
plaints, yet  they  managed  to  carry  out  their  wish. 
I  will  tell  you  how  it  was  brought  about. 

The  admiral  of  the  French  fleet  pretended 
(before  the  ships  parted)  that  he  was  desirous  of 


JOHN   SMITH. 


1S7 


seeing  Smith,  and  sent  for  him  to  come  on  board 
his  ship.  The  captain  accepted  the  invitation 
and  went.  Whether  Smith's  own  crew  had 
engaged  the  admiral  in  a  stratagem,  or  whether 
it  was  a  natural  accident,  it  so  happened  that 
while  he  was  aboard,  a  strange  sail  was  seen 
and  the  admiral  gave  chase.  Thus  Smith  was 
separated  from  his  men :  the  next  night,  they 
turned  the  ship's  head  homeward,  and  after  some 
difficulty  reached  Plymouth.  Some  have  said 
that  these  Frenchmen,  knowing  the  character  of 
Smith,  and  that  he  was  the  very  life  and  soul 
of  the  Enghsh  colonies  in  the  new  world,  were 
especially  jealous  of  him,  and  therefore  thus 
kidnapped  him. 

The  admiral's  ship  (separated  from  the  rest) 
kept  on  her  way,  and  Smith  found  that  he  was 
in  the  midst  of  a  lawless  set  of  fellows.     The 
Frenchmen  now  pretended  to   keep  him  as  a 
prisoner,  declaring  that  he  was  the  man  who 
had  broken  up  the  French  settlements  at  Port 
Royal  the  year  before,  (which  thing  in  fact  had 
een  done  by  Captain  Argall.)     The  ship  had 
a  prosperous  cruise,  so  far  as  plunder  was  con- 
cerned.    Sometimes  she  would  meet  and  plunder 
English  ships,  upon  which  occasions  Smith  was 
always  kept  below  5  but  when  the  ships  of  other 


188  JOHN    SMITH. 

nations  were  encountered,  he  was  always  made 
to  do  his  part  of  the  fighting.  At  length,  the 
cruise  being  over,  she  sailed  for  the  port  of 
Rochelle.  The  Frenchmen  seem  to  have  been 
conscious  that  they  were  guilty  men  for  thus 
treating  him,  for  before  reaching  port  they  pro- 
mised to  repay  him  for  all  his  sufferings  and 
losses,  by  giving  him  his  part  of  the  plunder. 
Having  arrived  in  port,  however,  they  broke 
their  promise  and  kept  him  as  a  prisoner  in  the 
ship  in  the  harbor.  Here  they  tried  to  force  from 
him  a  written  discharge  of  all  demands  against 
them.  This  he  refused  to  give,  and  a  kind  Pro- 
vidence soon  released  him  from  his  captivity. 
A  sudden  storm  arose,  and  drove  the  crew  of  the 
ship  below.  Smith  waited  until  night  came  on, 
and  then  taking  the  boat,  with  a  half  pike  which 
served  as  an  oar,  pushed  off  for  the  shore.  The 
current  being  strong,  his  little  boat  drifted  to  sea, 
and  for  twelve  hours  he  was  tossed  about  upon 
the  ocean,  expecting  every  moment  to  perish. 
Fortunately,  *'  the  turn  of  the  tide"  at  length 
threw  him  upon  a  low  marshy  island,  where  he 
was  found  in  the  morning  by  some  fowlers,  al- 
most dead  from  cold  and  huno^er.  He  agreed 
to  give  them  his  boat  if  they  would  take  him  to 
Rochelle.     Upon  his  arrival  there    he  learned 


JOHN    SMITH.  1S9 

that  the  effects  of  the  storm  had  been  tremen- 
dous. The  ship  in  ^vhich  he  had  been  confined, 
with  one  of  her  prizes,  had  been  wrecked  upon 
the  shore,  and  the  captain  with  half  the  crew 
had  perished. 

He  now  made  complaint  to  the  judge  of  the 
admiralty  of  the  cruel  treatment  he  had  received, 
and  brought  forward  many  of  the  sailors  to  prove 
the  truth  of  his  statements.  It  seems  he  found 
no  remedy ;  but  the  judge,  having  some  idea  of 
justice,  gave  him  a  certificate,  stating  that  he 
believed  his  story  to  be  true.  In  his  misfortune, 
he  met  with  many  friends  at  Rochelle,  and  after- 
wards at  Bourdeaux,  upon  presenting  the  letter 
of  the  judge  to  the  English  ambassador,  found 
many  more.  After  some  hardships,  he  once 
more  returned  to  England. 

It  seems  he  had  not  been  idle  while  he  was 
a  captive  on  board  the  French  ship.  During 
this  time  he  had  written  an  account  of  his  two 
last  voyages,  with  descriptions  of  the  country  of 
New  England,  "  with  its  many  advantages,  and 
the  proper  methods  of  rendering  it  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  the  English  dominions."  Return- 
ing home,  he  published  this,  together  with  his 
map  of  New  England,  and  in  his  ardent  de- 
sire to  rouse  the  energies  of  his  countrymen  to- 


190  JOHN  s^nxH. 

wards  colonizing  that  country,  wandered  over 
all  the  western  parts  of  England,  giving  away 
copies  of  his  book.  In  this  way  (it  is  said)  he 
distributed  seven  thousand  copies.  He  found  the 
people  greatly  discouraged  by  the  different  fail- 
ures that  had  occurred  already,  though  some  of 
them  "  made  many  fair  promises"  about  a  new 
effort.  The  Plymouth  Company,  as  some  reward 
for  his  services,  now  honored  him  with  the  title 
of  Admiral  of  New  England. 

In  the  spring  of  the  next  year,"  (16 16,)  to  his 
great  surprise  and  joy,  he  met  with  his  former 
friend,  the  princess  Pocahontas.  As  everything 
connected  with  this  noble-hearted  woman  has 
an  interest  for  my  countrymen,  I  must  tell  you 
the  circumstances  which  brought  about  the 
meeting. 

After  Smith  left  Virginia,  the  friendship  of 
Pocahontas  for  the  whites  still  continued.  It 
w^as  .not  so  with  her  father  Powhatan.  From 
tim'e  to  time,  he  w^as  busy  in  stratagems  against 
them.  In  1610,  the  friendship  and  animosity  of 
both  parties  were  well  proved,  when  Powhatan 
cut  off  Ratcliffe  and  a  party  of  thirty  men,  while 
Pocahontas  managed  to  save  a  boy  named  Henry 
Spilman.  From  some  cause  or  other,  (possibly 
the  cruelty  of  Powhatan  towards  the  whites,) 


JOHN    SMITH.  191 

Pocahontas  at  length  left  her  father's  house,  and 
made  her  home  among  the  Potomacs.  In  one 
of  his  trading  voyages  in  1612,  Captain  Argall 
learned  from  the  chief  of  the  Potomacs  that 
she  Avas  there,  and  determined  to  make  her  a 
prisoner.  He  thought  that  if  he  could  get  pos- 
session of  the  daughter,  Powhatan,  in  his  love 
for  her  and  his  desire  to  release  her,  would  make 
peace  on  any  terms.  Accordingly  he  bribed  the 
old  chief  ( Japazaws)  with  the  promise  of  a  cop- 
per kettle,  to  aid  him  in  carrying  out  his  plan. 

The  design  was  to  get  the  princess  on  board 
Argall's  ship,  and  a  curious  stratagem  was  re- 
sorted to.  Old  Japazaws  and  his  wdfe  made  a 
visit  to  Pocahontas,  and  the  wife  (as  she  had 
been  instructed  to  do)  expressed  a  great  desire 
to  visit  "  the  Englishman's  ship."  The  chief  re- 
fused to  allow  her  to  go,  and  threatened  to  beat 
her  for  having  such  a  wish.  She  (still  act- 
ing her  part)  began  to  weep  and  howl,  and  then 
the  old  hypocrite  Japazaws,  pretending  to  re- 
lent, consented  that  she  might  go  if  Pocahontas 
would  accompany  her.  The  amiable  princess 
at  once  assented,  and  they  went  on  board. 
The  captain  received  them  very  kindly,  and  en- 
tertained them  in  the  cabin,  where  the  old  chief 
kept  from  time  to  time,  treading  on  his  toe  to 


192  JOHN    S:\I1TH. 

reininf]  h:r£i  the.t  he  had  done  his  part.  After 
this  Pocahontas  "  was  decoyed  into  the  gun 
room"  for  a  time;  that  Japazaws  might  receive 
his  reward  without  her  knowing  anything  of  his 
treachery.  The  kettle  and  many  toys  being 
given  to  him  and  his  wife,  Pocahontas  at  length 
was  called  by  the  captain,  and  told  she  was 
a  prisoner — that  she  should  not  be  harmed  in 
any  way,  but  was  to  be  the  means  of  peace  be- 
tween her  father  and  the  English.  The  princess 
was  greatly  overcome,  and  wept  bitterly,  while 
the  old  hypocrites  Japazaws  and  his  wife  set  up 
a  most  hideous  howling.  She  was  at-  length 
pacified  and  consented  to  go  to  Jamestown, 
(where  it  seems  she  had  not  been  since  Smith 
left  the  country,)  and  the  old  chief  and  his  wife 
were  sent  ashore,  greatly  pleased,  yet  bitterly 
waihng. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  ship  at  Jamestown,  a 
message  was  immediately  sent  to  Powhatan, 
telling  him  of  the  captivity  of  his  daughter,  and 
offering  to  deliver  her  up  to  him  if  he  would  sur- 
render all  the  prisoners  whom  he  had  taken,  and 
all  the  guns  and  tools  of  the  English  that  he  had 
stolen.  The  news  made  the  old  man  very  sad, 
for  he  loved  his  daughter,  and  he  liked  the  guns. 
He  seems  not  to  have  known  what  to  do,  and 


JOHN    SMITH. 


193 


consequently,  for  three  months,  returned  no  an- 
swer. At  the  end  of  this  time,  he  sent  back 
seven  English  prisoners,  each  bringing  a  worn 
out  musket,  with  a  message  that  "  when  they 
should  deliver  his  daughter,  he  M^ould  make  full 
satisfaction  for  all  injuries,  gh-e  them  four  hun- 
dred bushels  of  corn,  and  be  their  friend  for  ever." 
The  English  answ-ered  "  that  Lis  daughter  should 
be  well  used ;  but  as  they  could  not  believe  that 
the  rest  of  their  arms  were  either  lost  or  stolen 
from  him,  they  would  keep  her  till  he  had  sent 
them  all  back."  This  vexed  him  so  much  that 
for  a  long  time  they  heard  no  more  from  him. 
At  length  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  taking  with  him 
Pocahontas,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
sailed  up  the  river  in  one  of  the  ships  to  Wero- 
wocomoco.  Upon  his  arrival,  Powhatan  would 
not  see  him.  Dale  spoke,  however,  to  some  of 
his  men,  telling  them  that  he  had  come  for  the 
purpose  of  delivering  up  the  king's  daughter  if 
he  would  surrender  the  men  and  arms  belonging 
to  the  colony.  The  savages  received  this  only 
-with  threats,  telling  him  if  he  and  his  men  came 
io  fight  they  were  welcome.  Then,  with  cool 
impudence,  they  advised  him  to  be  off  if  he  valued 
the  lives  of  his  men,  otherwise  they  would  all 
meet  with  the  fate  of  Ratcliffe's  party.  This 
17 


194  JOHN    SMITH. 

was  more  than  could  well  be  borne.  The  whites 
at  once  commenced  burning  their  houses,  and 
destroying  everything  they  could  find,  until  at 
length,  after  an  idle  resistance,  the  savages  seem- 
ed disposed  to  come  to  terms.  They  said  that 
their  prisoners  had  run  away,  fearing  that  they 
would  be  hanged,  but  that  some  of  Powhatan's 
men  had  gone  to  bring  them  back.  This  was 
only  a  stratagem  to  gain  time,  which  Dale  very 
well  understood,  and'  therefore  told  them  that 
he  would  remain  quiet  until  the  next  day  at 
noon,  when,  if  they  were  not  ready  to  meet  his 
demands,  and  were  willing  to  fight,  they  might 
know  when  to  begin  by  the  sound  of  his  drums 
and  trumpets.  In  other  words,  a  truce  was 
agreed  upon  until  noon  of  the  next  day.  In  the 
mean  time  two  brothers  of  Pocahontas  came  on 
board  the  ship  to  see  her,  and  were  greatly  pleas- 
ed to  find  her  (contrary  to  their  expectations) 
well  and  happy.  They  now  promised  to  use 
their  efforts  to  persuade  their  father  to  ransom 
her,  and  to  be  for  ever  friends  to  the  English. 
At  the  same  time,  Mr.  John  Rolfe  and  Mr.  Sparks 
had  been  sent  ashore  to  Powhatan,  to  inform 
him  (if  he  could  be  found)  of  the  business  upon 
which  they  had  come.  But  the  old  chief  would 
not  admit  them  to  his  presence.    They  could  only 


JOHN  SMITH.  195 

speak  with  Opechancanough,  (his  brother,)  who 
promised  to  do  his  utmost  with  Powhatan,  "  to 
indine  him  to  peace  and  friendship  with  the 
colony."  The  truce  ended,  and  nothing  was 
done ;  yet  the  whites  were  disposed  to  do  nothing 
more  at  present,  (owing,  perhaps,  to  the  fair 
promises  of  the  kinsmen  of  Powhatan.)  Another 
reason  prompting  them  to  w^aste  no  more  time 
in  the  matter  w^as,  the  desire  to  oe  at  home  to 
plant  their  lands ;  so  the  Avhole  party  returned 
to  Jamestown, 

In  a  little  time,  Pow^iatan  became  a  warm 
friend  to  the  w^hites,  but  it  w^as  hardly  owing  to 
the  efforts  of  Opechancanough  or  his  sons.  It 
seems  that  Mr.  Rolfe  had  formed  an  attachment 
for  Pocahontas,  while  she  had  returned  his  love 
as  warmly,  and  had  spoken  to  one  of  her  brothers 
of  her  feelings.  When  Powhatan  heard  of  this 
he  was  greatly  pleased,  and  instantly  consented 
to  their  marriage.  Within  ten  days  he  sent  his 
brother  Opachisco  and  two  of  his  sons  to  attend 
the  w^edding,  acting  as  his  deputies  in  all  that 
might  be  necessary.  The  parties  w^ere  duly 
married  in  April,  16 13,  and  ever  after  this,  there 
was  a  strong  and  lasting  friendship  between 
Powhatan  and  the  colony. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1616,  that  she  arrived 


196  JOHN    SMITH. 

in  England  with  her  husband.  She  was  then 
about  twenty -two  years  of  age,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  "  very  graceful,  and  her  manners  gen- 
tle and  pleasing."  Living  at  Jamestown,  she 
had  learned  to  speak  the  English  language,  and 
embracing  the  Christian  religion,  had  been  bap- 
tized by  the  name  of  Rebecca.*  She  had  heard 
in  some  way  that  her  old  friend  Captain  Smith 
was  dead,  and  did  not  learn  that  he  was  living 
until  she  arrived  in  England. 

As  soon  as  Smith  heard  of  her  arrival,  he  sent 
a  letter  to  the  queen,  setting  forth  the  character 
of  Pocahontas,  and  her  great  kindness  to  himself 
and  the  colony  in  Virginia.  This  was  done  in 
gratitude  by  the  captain,  but  it  was  well  nigh 
useless,  for  her  fame  had  reached  England  long 
before  this.  She  was  introduced  to  the  queen 
by  the  Lady  Delaware,  and  received  with  great 
courtesy  and  kindness  by  all  the  royal  family. 
In  a  little  time  Smith  came  to  see  her,  and  the 

*  The  author  was  ignorant  of  the  real  name  of  Pocahontas, 
until  he  accidentally  discovered  in  Stith's  Virginia  the  follow- 
ing: "  Her  real  name,  it  seems,  was  originally  Matoax,  which 
the  Indians  carefully  concealed  from  the  English,  and  chang- 
ed it  to  Pocahontas,  out  of  a  superstitious  fear,  lest  they,  by 
the  knowledge  of  her  true  name,  should  be  enabled  to  do  hei 
some  hurt.  She  was  the  first  Christian  Indian  in  »hese  parts 
and  perhaps  the  sincerest  and  most  worthy  that  has  eve- 
been  since." — Stith's  Virginia,  page  136. 


JOHN    SMITH.  197 

interview  between  them  was  very  touching  At 
the  first  sight  of  him,  after  a  modest  salutation, 
she  turned  away,  hid  her  face,  and  for  two  hours 
did  not  utter  a  v/ord.  After  this  she  spoke  to 
him,  and  called  him  father,  and  because  Smith 
did  not  at  once  salute  her  as  his  child,  she  hid 
her  face  again  and  wept  bitterly.  She  did  not 
remember  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  king, 
and  now  in  a  land  where  kings  were  honored, 
and  that  Smith,  perhaps,  felt  some  delicacy  for 
that  reason  in  calling  her  his  child.  When  re- 
minded of  this,  (it  is  said,)  "  she  despised  such 
affectation."  She  declared  that  she  loved  him 
as  a  father,  that  she  had  treated  him  as  a  father 
in  her  own  country,  and  would  be  his  child  for 
ever.  Then  looking  upon  him  again,  she  cried, 
*•  They  did  tell  us  always  you  were  dead,  and  I 
knew  no  other  till  I  came  to  Plymouth  :  yet 
Powhatan  did  command  Uttamatomakkin  to  seek 
you  and  know  the  truth." 

This  savage  (one  of  the  trusty  friends  of  Pow- 
hatan) had  been  sent  out  by  the  chief  for  three 
purposes — he  was  to  learn  if  Smith  was  alive, 
and  if  alive  to  see  him — to  see  the  Englishman's 
God,  and  their  king  and  queen — and  to  count  the 
people  of  England.  Upon  meeting  Smith,  he 
desired,  in  his  ignorance,  to  see  his  God.  Then 
17* 


198  JOHN    SMITH. 

he  asked  to  see  the  king  and  queen.  It  seeins 
he  had  seen  the  king,  and  Smith  told  him  so, 
promising  that  in  due  time  he  would  shew  him 
the  queen.  The  poor  savage  could  hardly  be 
persuaded  that  he  had  seen  the  king,  because 
the  person  whom  they  called  king  had  given 
him  nothing.  Turning  to  Smith,  he  said,  "  You 
gave  Powhatan  a  white  dog,  but  your  king  has 
given  me  nothing,  and  I  am  better  than  your 
white  dog."  As  to  numbering  the  people,  he 
had  managed  that  in  a  curious  way.  Upon  his 
arrival  at  Plymouth,  being  unable  to  count  the 
multitudes,  he  procured  a  long  stick,  and  made 
a  notch  for  every  person  Tiiat  he  met.  It  is  said 
that  upon  his  return  home,  when  Powhatan  ask- 
ed him  how  many  people  there  w^ere  in  England, 
his  answer  was,  "  Count  the  stars  in  the  sky,  the 
leaves  on  the  trees,  and  the  sands  upon  the  sea 
shore  :  for  such  is  the  number  of  the  people  in 
England." 

It  was  the  fate  of  the  princess  Pocahontas 
never  to  return  to  Virginia.  In  the  early  part 
of  1617,  as  she  was  preparing  to  embark  with 
her  husband,  she  was  at  Gravesend  suddenly 
taken  sick,  and  died  leaving  one  son,  her  infant 
boy,  Thomas  Rolfe.    Her  character  proved  good 


JOHN   SMITH. 


199 


to  the  last,  for  we  are  told  that  "  she  died  calm- 
ly like  a  Christian."* 

We  hear  no  more  of  Captain  Smith  now,  un- 
til the  year  1622,  Avhen  news  reached  England 
of  Opechancanoiigh's  dreadful  massacre  of  the 
colonists  at  Jamestown.  The  tidings  were  sad 
to  all,  but  sadder  to  none  than  Smith.  In  his 
indignation  at  this  savage  butchery  of  his  coun- 
trymen, he  proposed  at  once  to  the  company,  that 
if  they  would  give  him  one  hundred  soldiers  and 
thirty  sailors,  with  the  necessary  provisions  and 
arms,  he  would  go  to  Virginia,  "range  the 
country,  keep  the  natives  in  awe,  and  protect 
the  planters."  The  company  was  divided.  Some 
were  for  hearkening  to,  others  for  opposing  his 
project.  At  length,  after  consultation,  they  gave 
him  this  pitiful  answer:  "  that  the  charges  would 
be  too  great;  that  their  stock  was  reduced;  that 
the  planters  oup-ht  to  defend  themselves ;  but 
that  if  he  v  ^.u  go  at  his  own  expense,  they 
would  give  him  leave,  provided  he  would  give 
them  one  half  of  the  pillage.''  He  rejected  their 
proposal  with  scorn. 

*  Her  son,  Thomas  Rolfe,  after  being  for  some  time  intrust- 
ed  to  his  uncle  in  London,  at  length  came  to  Virginia,  and 
became  somewhat  distinguished.  He  married  and  left  an  only- 
daughter,  and  now  some  of  the  most  reputable  families  in  Vir. 
ginia  are  her  descendants,  and,  through  her,  the  descendants 
01  ner  grand-mother,  the  princess  Pocahontas. 


200  JOHN    SMITH. 

The  sad  state  of  affairs  in  Virfrinia  at  lenorth 
induced  King  James  (in  1623)  to  issue  a  com- 
mission, appointing  certain  persons  to  examine 
into  the  causes  of  the  difficulties,  and  report  a 
plan  for  the  better  management  of  the  colony. 
'This  commission,  aware  of  the  knowledge  of 
Smith,  was  wise  enough  to  send  for  him.  He 
told  them  all  that  he  knew  of  the  colony,  and 
gave  them  his  advice  as  to  the  best  way  of 
proceeding  to  remedy  matters,  and  make  the 
colony  happy  and  profitable. 

For  some  years  now  his  life  'was  more  quiet. 
He  busied  himself  from  time  to  time  in  writing 
accounts  of  his  travels,  and  struggling  to  call  up 
in  his  countrymen  a  spirit  for  colonizing  America. 
It  w^as  not  his  privilege,  however,  to  see  the 
country  for  which  he  had  struggled,  and  where 
he  had  endured  so  many  hardships,  all  that  he 
desired.  He  only  in  a  measure  foresaw,  what 
the  American  plantations  might  become  under 
proper  management.  Could  he  now  look  upon 
this  beautiful  land  of  ours,  and  see  what  his  little 
colony  has  grown  to,  how  would  he  be  startled 
to  find  the  richest  calculations  of  his  bold  spirit 
more  than  realized  ? 

I  have  no  more  to  say,  except  that  this  won- 
derful man  died  at  London  in  the  year  1631,  in 


JOHN   SMITH.      .  201 

the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age,  and  to  add  his 
own  melancholy  story  after  all  his  struggles. 
"I  have"  (says  he)  "  spent  five  years  and  more 
than  five  hundred  pounds  in  the  service  of  Vir- 
ginia and  New  England,  and  in  neither  of  them 
have  I  one  foot  of  land,  nor  the  very  house  I 
built,  nor  the  ground  I  digged  with  my  own 
hands ;  but  I  see  those  countries  shared  before 
me,  by  those  who  know  them  only  by  my  de- 
scriptions." 


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